King of the Elemental Nations REMIX
by Kurogane7
Summary: Naruto has stumbled across the Soul Embrace, and has been chosen to succeed Algol to become king of the world. What choices will he make on his road to kingship? Naruto armed with Soul Calibur and Soul Edge. Limited gender-benders. Naruto/Harem (will try to limit to 15-20 girls, but 30 is max.)
1. Meeting the King

_**A/N: And here's the reboot of "King of the Elemental Nations". As usual, your reviews will determine whether or not it's worth doing over, so do read and review, would you kindly?**_

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{Play: "Mt. Moon" from "Pokemon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony"}

[Somewhere in Hi no Kuni…]

The rain clouds had drawn in very quickly. A bummer to young Uzumaki Naruto as he stood at the mouth of the cave. He'd accidentally found it not too long ago when he was exploring the wilderness and falling into a sinkhole. Not exactly the most painless way of exploring, but it got him somewhere.

Since then, he'd been secretly making trips to the cave, hoping to find something new within. It just so happened that the opening of the cave he was looking out of gave him a pretty good view of a fairly large pond nearby, and there were a lot of really big trees outside. Once, he'd seen a lot of rather large animals pass on by; at first, he thought they were going to go in and eat him. But upon seeing where he was, they seemed to try and steer away from the mouth of the cave. Weird.

Naruto let out a roar of frustration. "If I'd known it was going to rain, I would've brought my rain jacket ahead of time!" he said to himself, before letting out a cathartic sigh. "Well, might as well take a deeper look. It doesn't look like the rain's letting up anyway."

He pulled out an electric lantern, and switched it on-allowing the high-powered LED's to illuminate his way. As Naruto took steps to go further in, he began to think back on his life thus far: things had been different since he'd left the orphanage. The apartment complex he lived in was smack-dab in the middle of the red-light district, the slums, and the marketplace. It wasn't exactly an ideal place to live, given the amount of crime that went on in the former two, but at least he knew each area enough that he could catch pursuers from a mile away. Plus, the marketplace was the perfect place for him to practice the art of stealth, as he managed to get revenge on the people that did worse than glare at him. This was how he was able to get his hands on fresh fruit.

It was thanks to this…training that he was able to sneak into the wilderness, and find this cave. He'd only hoped that nobody explored it any further than he did; Naruto was crossing his fingers that he would be able to find something cool before he had to go home. Plus, there came the matter of school starting up again next week; the Ninja Academy had a two-week break in between each three-month semester.

He soon found himself at a chamber with many entrances. At each entryway, there were large X's scratched into each portal. Naruto tried three of them, and found that they were all empty. This was probably the best way of telling which way was explored already, and which was not; and so he decided to focus his attention on the ones that weren't marked. So far, his discoveries had included several large treasure chests, which were filled with jewels and gold; a hidden stash with white powder; and several dead-ends which he marked to never come back.

This time, he found another entrance he'd never been to before. Whatever was in there, he'd only hoped that it would be very cool. As he took steps further down the hall, he kept his lantern on to keep an eye open; there were supposed to be bats in caves, but he hadn't heard any flapping. "I guess even bats are too scared to live here. But so what? I'm still going to see what's in this cave that even animals are too scared to come in, or my name's not Uzumaki Naruto!"

After nearly half an hour of walking, Naruto found himself walking into a chamber. Deciding to investigate the chamber even further, he decided to take a look around. As he waved his lantern around, while taking very cautious steps, he found his attention drawn to something reflecting the light from his lantern.

Taking closer steps towards the source of the reflection, Naruto could only yelp in surprise and stumble backwards. After getting over his moment of fear, he moved closer and carefully to get a better look at whatever it was that he was looking at: the first thing he saw was some kind one-eyed creature with a blade-like metallic shell wrapping its fleshy tendrils around a fancy-looking glass sword that was driven into the eye, with the lids closed over it. It looked like it was forever locked in combat with the sword, as the tendrils seemed to be frozen in the middle of trying to pull the sword out.

Behind the eternal battle, Naruto saw a glass statue of a man that knelt to the ground. While many details about him were obscured, there were quite a few things that he could make out: he had a large, streamlined, and half-naked body composed of lean muscle that evoked the image of a majestic bird of prey. This was supported by the fact that his fingers and toes were tipped in very deadly points, and his feather-like hair was blown backwards to give him an even more avian appearance. Even though he was kneeling, Naruto eyeballed him to be at least 6 feet in height (quite possibly the tallest man he'd seen so far), and the man was looking upwards with a very regal and defiant expression on his face, which seemed to be backed up by the gold bracelets and anklets he wore, the tassels, and the clip holding the cloth around his neck together

However, all those descriptions of the man flew out the window when Naruto took an even closer look at the statue. "It's so life-like," he said, studying it even closer. He was no expert on art, but even _he_ could tell that whoever sculpted this statue had to be really skilled and dedicated (and probably crazy detailed) to have been able to pull this off: every hair fiber on his head, every weave of the cloth, every wrinkle on his body, even the scar running down over the left eye and the battle damage looked very realistic. Come to think of it, Naruto thought he could see bones and organs under layers of red 'muscles'. "Talk about overkill."

Naruto followed the man's gaze. He seemed to be looking up at the sculpture in front of him, as though daring whomever it was to even touch it. "So you don't want me to pull the sword out of that thing, eh?" snarked Naruto, "Well I ain't going to be intimidated by a statue!"

He walked around, and had to jump to get a good grip on the sword by its hilt. After a few tugs, the glass sword just wouldn't budge. "C'mon, sword!" grunted Naruto, "Work with me here!"

Half an hour had passed until Naruto noted that the sword had started to budge. Sensing his imminent victory, he made one final tug at the hilt of the sword, and wound up having it flip in an arc over his head. He then had a good look at the thing. It had a deep blue sphere in the middle, and it had an overall crystalline appearance, with crystals growing from it. The sword looked like it had to be wielded in both hands, and was way too heavy for him to handle.

Naruto lifted the sword by the hilt, and raised it slightly above his head. "Ha! I finally did it!" Tired from the effort spent on pulling out the sword, he leaned against the creature with one hand on the metallic shell. "What do you think of me now, tough guy?"

All he had in response was silence, and the statue still seemed to be staring defiantly at him. However, Naruto suddenly had the strange feeling that he was being watched. He turned around to see the creature looking at him with its cat-slit eye focused upon him. Before he could push off, the creature used its fleshy tendrils to pierce his arm, eliciting a moan of pain from Naruto as it started to dig into his flesh to get into his bloodstream. On the other hand, the glass sword was glowing a bright whitish color as it began to crystallize his other arm, causing him to yelp in fright.

From that moment on, all Naruto could feel was agony. Both of the things in his hands were trying so very hard to kill him that his moans were starting to die down, and his vision began to darken…

* * *

[Unknown location…]

All was quiet. The entire area gave the impression of a sewer that ended in an L-shaped junction with a left-turn. There was a trench in the middle of the hall that was filled with water, and pipes lined the ceiling. Darkness had obscured much of the entire area, but it was clear that the floors were made of concrete, and there were brick walls.

In the left turn, a large metal cage had taken up the entire area. The gates were held together using a slip of paper with the character "封" written upon its surface. Snoring could be heard from the bars of the cage, which gave a very obvious indication that something lived here.

The serenity and monotony of the prison was broken when a quake had rocked the entire area. Crimson eyes had opened from behind the bars upon feeling the tremors, shaking through the prison. They searched the area, hoping for an answer when something shot through the walls in front of the cage. A bluish crystal had spiked its way past the masonry, the tip almost penetrating the paper. It was soon followed by a red crystal erupting through the floor, and making cracks in the cement. From that point on, blue and red crystals began to grow at accelerated rates.

"At last, a new body for me to inhabit!" called out a growling, masculine voice, causing the red crystals to pulse in rhythm with the words, "It shall be mine!"

"No! This body shall be _my_ vessel!" shot back a feminine voice coming from the blue crystals, "There will be no room for you."

"_You_ are the one that is not welcome here! I will gain control of this body, and all souls in the world will be mine!"

"And I shall do my part in opposing you. Under my guidance, the boy shall be a proper king!"

Ignoring the quibbling of the two voices, the prisoner watched as crystals continued to burst through the walls and the floor, and even through the ceiling. They also continued to grow, utterly destroying he environment.

Whatever was going on, one thing was clear to the prisoner: whether for good or for bad, this place would be changed forever. And from this point on, things would be interesting. Now if only it could get the two voices to stop fighting…

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[Unknown location─long ago…]

When Naruto came to, he sat up. He soon began to massage his head in an attempt to relieve the pain. However, as he looked at the ground, he noted that the ground was lit up. He then turned his head to notice that he was in a different location. He saw the skies around him, which meant that he was outside in the daytime. "Where am I?" he asked himself, continuing to take in his surroundings, "Why am I not in the cave?"

The area he was in had a stone floor, and was surrounded by multiple pillars that had some cloth fluttering in between them. Naruto also noted that there seemed to be a fleshy substance that crept across the floor, and led to a closed eye. The darkening golden hues that the skies seemed to be taking however, told him that it was at dusk…or dawn. But the appearance of the moon rising up in the distance told him that it was the former.

Naruto then saw someone approaching. It was a woman that was floating towards him. She was quite a looker, and the amount of white on her person seemed to give her an ethereal quality to her appearance: ridiculously long and snowy hair that floated and trailed behind her, flowing with the winds of her power. Her body was wrapped up under smooth and bright skin that had a pearly complexion to it. The kimono she wore was a one-piece article of clothing with wide sleeves and was an off-white, with a dark crimson trim on the sleeves, tail, and collar, with deep red magatama motifs on it. What really made her stand out were the two horns on her head, the slit going down the middle of her forehead, the two red spots above her eyebrows, and cold white eyes that held a very terrible power. "Where have I seen those eyes before?" he muttered to himself.

At first, Naruto thought she was coming for him, until he noted that her gaze was on someone behind him. He then turned to see that sitting in a slouched position on a stone throne with a snake motif was the bird-man he'd seen back in the cave; only this time, he was not made of glass (_Or was it crystal?_), as his entire body seemed to have reverted back to soft tissue and actual cloth. There was a serious expression on his face as he watched the woman float towards him, but he made no move to extricate his head from the hand that was holding it up on the armrest of his throne. The words that came out of his mouth were spoken with a flange that added 'oomph' to his booming and regal voice: "You've come. And for my power, I take it?"

"I have come to put an end to your reign, King of Heroes," said the woman, "you will not be able to escape now that we've dealt with your followers and heirs. Now, it is time to put an end to your rule, and to our rivalry."

The man known as the King of Heroes simply smirked. "I don't expect you to understand me. I've lived and suffered through enough; and have guaranteed that my rule was just. I suppose it was only fitting that there would eventually be people that desired more than they had."

"Be that as it may; with your death, there will be a new beginning. One where there will be peace in the world, and nobody needs to suffer. It will be a united world where everyone will feel love, and have a chance to become happy, and where we can begin our relationship with nature anew."

"A noble goal indeed," sighed the King, "but I wonder…will your ideals still hold true when you dethrone this king as you have others?"

The horned woman's glare intensified as she heard that; it was clear, she was insulted by the insinuation. "They will never change. I, Ōtsusuki Kaguya, of the Ōtsusuki Clan swear by it!"

The King scoffed lightly. "At least your resolve is still as strong as when I first met you. But you still haven't answered the question I've asked you: must the king be alone in his superiority?"

There was a bit of silence as the woman named Kaguya seemed to consider her answer. "Yes. The king must indeed be alone."

A half-smile had found its way on the King's face. "Wrong answer," he teased, standing up and folding his arms together. As soon as he stood to his full height, the throne vanished into thin air. "but regardless; you are a rebel worthy of judgment. I will show you how true kings fight. And I, Algol, the King of Heroes, shall be the one to teach you!"

{Play: "The Final Showdown! VS Champion Rival" from "Pokemon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony"}

The now-named Algol took a few steps towards Kaguya, before he formed an aura around himself and started levitating above the ground. His slight grin had turned serious and determined as he looked upon his opponent. The slit on Kaguya's forehead had opened to reveal a red eye with something three rings expanding outward from the iris and three magatama rotating lazily in concentric circles. There was a moment of silence between the two of them as they stared each other down. All of a sudden, the two of them vanished with a loud, 'whoosh'.

Naruto could not see anything, but he heard the sound of blades swinging around, as well as some strange sound, as well as cutting into the ground. He saw white sticks with pointy ends digging themselves into the ground at high speeds. Once in a while, he caught glimpses of the two of them fighting before they vanished back into thin air too quickly for his eyes to follow. _Is this how gods fight?_ he asked himself, as he studied the duel carefully.

While the destruction that came from their battle left hard evidence of the fight between them, Naruto could see how the two of them fought, and the differences were clear. Kaguya was keeping Algol from getting close to her, periodically firing those white spikes at him from below her wrists. Algol on the other hand had a pair of blue and red crystal blades on his hands that he tried to use to stab and slash at his opponent, along with other bladed weapons that were hidden in his body. Both were teleporting, with Algol chasing after his opponent in an attempt to land a deadly blow upon her, and Kaguya quickly moving away to get in a better position to take potshots at him.

When it was clear that the match had come to a stalemate; neither fighter was gaining the advantage. Naruto watched the fight continued to escalate as Algol began to do something weird: he formed a pair of cylindrical cages around his forearms, and began to fire slow-moving spheres of energy at his opponent, and then moving in to stop her from escaping. This had the effect of pushing her into his shots. Very tricky indeed. This did not stop the attacks from moving quickly. In fact, it seemed to make every attack more desperate.

However, even though the battle was going on too fast for the eye to see, Naruto knew that something had to give. It was going on for far too long and too fast to last forever, and it would eventually end with the two fighters slowing down. True to form, the two fighters had finally come to a stop, and Naruto saw Algol and Kaguya staring each other down. It was clear from her stance that while Kaguya was the victor here, but she did not escape the battle unscathed: she had numerous scratches, bruises, and scorch marks on her body that cut through her clothes, revealing deep gashes that seemed to be slowly sealing themselves. She also had bones sticking out of her body in certain places, likely from Algol using the power generated from his muscles to sucker-punch her.

She was panting heavily as she looked down upon Algol, who was on one knee. He looked up at her with a defiant look in his eyes. He seemed to have fared even worse than Kaguya, and it looked like Naruto had just learned how he had the battle-damage on his statue, coupled with what amounted to internal bleeding if there was blood trailing from the corner of his mouth. What was even more telling about the king's fate was that as he was kneeling, he started to crystallize from his feet. "My reign has ended…for now," he growled, in between pants as the crystallization had started creeping past his knees and to his thighs, "you have defeated me, but your victory won't last," At this point, his abdomen had crystallized, and it was starting to move up to his pecs. "when I see that your rule has darkened, and you have fallen from your ideals of peace and love, my successor will come. They shall gain my power and my weapons, and they incorporate them with your own witchcraft against you. They shall defeat you and rule this world from my throne. And with your end, a truly new beginning shall rise from your ashes."

Now, the creature that Algol was looking at had begun sprouting from the ground, its eye looking around wildly as it tried to get free. Before it could even move, the glass sword had begun to form in the air, and stabbed it in the eye, causing it to continuously try to break free. "Remember this, Ōtsusuki Kaguya, Princess of the Ōtsusuki clan," continued Algol, with the crystallization having reached halfway up his neck, "for if you falter in your ideals, my successor shall be the one to crush you once and for all. This I swear, upon my throne as king of this world!"

After having said his last words, Algol had turned into the statue that Naruto knew of him as. He watched as Kaguya stood over his body. There was no malice in her expression, not even a hint of taunting; just a moment of sympathy for him. "Rest now, King of Heroes; there will be no need for you to find a successor," she claimed, "for I will never falter. And I will not stop until I've made the world better under my rule."

Naruto's vision began to darken. He had no idea what was happening, but had no intention of letting whatever it was to consume him. Unfortunately, there was no escape; the darkness had already devoured him…

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{Play: "Rise" by Hans Zimmer, from "The Dark Knight Rises"}

[Cave…]

…and had caused him to awaken with a start. Naruto's head began to throb at ungodly speeds, causing him no end of pain. He remembered what he saw in that dream, and hazarded a glance to see that the metallic creature and the glass sword were nowhere to be seen.

Was it all a dream?

And yet, why was the statue of Algol all that remained?

"_Child, walk your own path to kingship."_

Naruto let out a yelp of surprise as he started looking around. He knew that that voice belonged to Algol, but where did it come from? He then watched as the statue of Algol had shattered into what looked like diamond dust. "If I'm going to be king, then I'll be the best king this world's ever seen!"

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_**A/N:**_

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_**Vocabulary:**_

_**封─**__**this is the character for 'seal'.**_

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_**Cameos/References**_

"_**must the king be alone in his superiority?"-these words come straight from Iskandar from "Fate/Zero", shortly before he uses his Noble Phantasm "Ionian Hetairoi".**_


	2. Call-outs and Stalkers

_**A/N: Well now, 20 reviews on chapter 1…clearly, I must be doing something right if I'm getting this many this quickly. With the addition of one PM for this story, and I'd say it's one hell of a head start. I will warn my readers, in order to make this story a bit easier to update, while still whetting your appetites, I will not be submitting chapters lower than 4-5k words for this (if the chapter is going to be important, I may spend more time on it). Otherwise, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

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{Play: "Afternoon of Konoha" by Toshiro Masuda, from "Naruto"}

[Somewhere in Hi no Kuni─the next week]

It'd been a good week or so, and Naruto had come slightly better-prepared. In that time, he'd been trying to find a way to use the powers that Algol was capable of using; the ability to use those two crystal-things to help him fight. He remembered, of course, that the tentacle-monster (which he somehow knew was called 'Soul Edge') and the crystal sword (which was known as 'Soul Calibur') were both in his body now. He could tell because he felt stronger, and there was this strange sensation like electricity surging throughout his body and making his reactions faster. All in all, he was harder, better, faster, stronger, and that this would be permanent.

The only problem was that he had no idea how to call them forth like Algol did; or even how to use them. Either way, he still had the problem of going back to class right now. It was a good thing that whatever the two swords did to merge with him, it allowed him to run faster. _I can always find out how to use them in my own time,_ he thought, _but in the meantime, I've got to get to class. Hopefully, Iruka-sensei's not going to give us another history lecture._

In all honesty, he had nothing against Iruka-sensei; he just found the history lessons to be boring. Not so much because of the subject (he'd remembered what each Hokage did in their lifetime, as well as who came before whom), but because the way that Iruka taught the subject was a test of his patience. _Seriously, it's way easier for me to catch more than forty winks with the way he teaches the subject._

Another reason why Naruto was not exactly looking forward to class was because of…

"EEK! Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto turned to see something he dreaded at this time of day: the fangirl stampede was coming. No, scratch that, they were already here and stomping their way towards him! The second they made contact with him, the girls knocked him aside. Naruto could've sworn one of those girls had punched him in the face.

As soon as he got back up, Naruto saw the very scene that made him sick to the stomach. All the girls were crowding around and cooing at the boy that stood not too far away from him. His charcoal-colored hair was done up in a spiky duck-butt, and his pale skin was indicative of his status on the upper-rung of society. A petty part of him wanted to hate Uchiha Sasuke, and it wasn't without reason: he'd got the best marks in class, beat everyone in taijutsu, and was overall a very popular student among the girls. Hopefully, today would change all that, and he would get to take Sasuke down a peg.

Naruto also noted familiar faces in the mob that were currently playing tug-of-war with Sasuke. On the one side was a pink-haired girl with green eyes, and dressed in a red qipao and headband; the other was a platinum blonde with dirty blue eyes and in a purple blouse. The former of the two was Haruno Sakura, a girl from a civilian family, and one of the few friends he'd made in his short life. Yamanaka Ino, who was the other girl pulling on Sasuke's arm, was another one. Both of them got along fine with him, and actually enjoyed spending time with him. That all changed when the three of them went to the academy together, and they both noticed Sasuke. And the most sour note in his opinion was that the boy didn't even make an effort to return the gesture…it's like the two of them just decided to drop all memory of him and their time together, and decided to spend all their time chasing after a boy that clearly didn't even like them.

He simply walked on to the school gates, and ignored the sound of the fangirls squealing at Sasuke. The worst offenders were Sakura and Ino, who were both fighting over him. _I have no time for these shenanigans!_ thought Naruto, standing back up and dusting himself off, _If these stupid fangirls want to die because they were fawning over Sasuke-teme, then so be it!_

Naruto stopped for a moment as soon as he realized something. _Wait a minute, why did I just think that?_

Deciding it was nothing, Naruto continued walking on into the classroom. Hopefully, the teachers would be a lot more merciful on him than last time. Still, at least he had a chance in Taijutsu…he could feel the confidence surging through him as he looked forward to the sparring matches. _Look out, School! It's time for a new me!_

* * *

[Somewhere in Konoha Ninja Academy]

A pair of eyes looked down on one Uzumaki Naruto as he walked into the classroom. The emotion behind them was of outright hate and scorn for the boy. Fortunately for the person that looked at Naruto in that way, he was able to mask his hate with an enthusiastic expression on his face.

With any luck, his plans would work out, and he would be able to execute them flawlessly.

* * *

{Play: "Oak Research Lab" from "Pokémon Reorchestrated: Kanto Symphony"}

[Classroom─five minutes later]

The class was noisy; this was especially the fact since Naruto had heard that the Sasuke Fangirls were mystified by the fact that the object of their affections had just disappeared. He had a pretty good idea where Sasuke would end up. And on cue, Naruto had wound up hazarding a glance to his right to see Sasuke sitting right next to him, and staring out the window, as usual.

Without missing a beat, Naruto watched as Sakura and Ino were running down the aisle. They stared each other down as they raced towards the very tier that he was sitting on. The two of them shoved and pushed until Sakura wound up running down his aisle. As soon as she got near him, she pulled him out of his seat, threw him out of it with a quick "out of my way!", and sat right down to chat up Sasuke.

{Play: "Nemesis" by Neil Davidge, from "Halo 4"}

As he stood up, Naruto had a very fierce snarl on his face. _This has gone on far enough!_ he thought, turning his attention to Sakura. She was still distracted with Sasuke in front of her, still trying to chat him up. He quickly placed a hand at the side of her head, and gave it a very strong push to pin her head to the desk. The suddenness of his attack had frozen everyone in their places; Naruto, the boy who took everything that Haruno Sakura dished out on him while asking her out, had suddenly and actively struck her.

"What the hell are you doing, Naruto-baka?" she managed to get out, struggling to get free, "Don't you know I was talking to Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut up!" snapped Naruto, pressing slightly harder on her head, "I've had enough of this from you! It's always 'Sasuke-kun this' and 'Sasuke-kun that'! It's been like this since you first set eyes on Sasuke, and it's gotten old! I've tried to ask you out, not because I wanted to date you, but because I wanted to save our friendship. And what do I get in return? For no reason at all, other than just wanting to be your friend, you punch me in the face and call me a 'loser'! Instead of asking me to switch seats with you, you throw me out of my seat and sit down on it. Don't you feel guilty at all?"

At that moment, Sakura began to register exactly what was being said to her. Was she that focused on Sasuke that she turned into this monster? However, Naruto's verbal rampage was far from over, as he turned his attention to Ino, who was currently sitting with Chōji and Shika with an awestruck expression on her face. "You're not innocent in this either Ino. Sure, you _do_ get it into your head from time to time to _at least_ be nice to me, but do you stay to make sure I'm alright? No, the second Sasuke shows up, you just run with the crowd, and ignore me outright. I'm alright if we all grew apart, but do you both cherish our time together so little that you'd do this?"

Naruto let out a cathartic sigh as he released Sakura from his grip. She had not moved from her spot because she was still processing everything that he'd let out. "I'm done with this. I just pray that whatever friend you make in the future is willing to put up with what you two have been doing to me. I gave you both _plenty_ of chances to keep our friendship alive the past two years; now, I'm all out of patience." He then turned his attention to Sasuke, who was just plain shocked at what he'd just witnessed. "As for you Sasuke, I'm tired of being your fangirl barrier. I mean, has it ever occurred to you that they would stop if you'd just be honest with them about how you feel? If you want them to leave you alone, don't ignore them and say something! Anything! Tell them you hate them! Tell them they're annoying! I don't care, just be honest about it!"

Having said his piece, Naruto left the aisle. _Where did that come from?_ he asked himself, _I mean, I understand Sasuke, but why did I just blow up on Sakura-chan and Ino-chan? What's happening to me?_ Naruto managed to take a seat a few tiers above Sasuke and Sakura. It was a mostly empty row, but at least it had a lot of peace and quiet…exactly what he needed right now. He needed to calm down and collect his thoughts with whatever amount of time he had left. It would've been a successful endeavor if he didn't have a feeling that someone was watching him. As he glanced to his right, Naruto found that he was seated next to Hinata. He then noted that she was staring at him. "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"N-no, Naruto-kun," stammered Hinata, her skin taking on a deeper shade of red as she spoke, "N-nothing wrong…but…umm…I…I…"

Before Hinata could get a word out, Iruka had arrived with his aide Mizuki, with a dumbstruck look on his face as he noticed the students were staring at Naruto for some reason. "Huh, that's funny, normally I'd have to yell at the brats to get them to shut up."

"That's really odd."

Deciding it was nothing, Iruka decided to begin with the day's lessons.

* * *

{Play: "The Hive" by Glenn Stafford, Derek Duke, Russell Brower, and Neal Arcee, from "Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty"}

[Unknown location]

There was nothing but fire all around; the entire domain was a rocky wasteland with a substrate of ashen sand. Throughout the ground, one could see a slight orange glow that rose up from the cracks. Embers would constantly ghost into the air, and the air was distorted by the heat. From the distance, one could see a crystal tower piercing the heavens and illuminating the twilight with conflicting tones of bluish-white, and a fierce red.

Atop the tower was a woman with orange hair, and claret eyes gazing out into the sunset. Her unblemished, alabaster skin was pulled taut over a slim, curvy, and muscular body that was accentuated by a firm and generous bust. She was sitting slouched upon a granite throne with a snake motif, and inlaid gold patterns on the back. There was no sense of modesty about this woman as she sat with her legs spread out, her back reclined, and her head resting upon her right hand with an arrogant smirk upon her face. She balanced a sword with an eye near the fleshy hilt, with one hand on the pommel, and the tip being driven into the ground between her legs; her body language challenged any takers to come for the throne.

"Milady," came the voice of a blonde standing next to the arrogant amazon in the throne. She seemed to be in her early forties, but was no less stunning for it, and she was scantily clad in diaphanous white clothes that revealed her slightly more modest bust. In her hands, she carried a sword and shield made of blue crystal. Her face was obscured by a white mask with white wings at the sides. The angelic woman knelt down before the woman in a reverent manner. "What is your bidding?"

"Satisfy my curiosity, Elysium," said the amazon, periodically spinning the sword with one hand, and causing it to come to a stop.

The woman named Elysium looked upward in surprise. "Milady?"

"What would you have done with the boy?"

Even though her face was hidden away, the mistress of the tower could tell that Elysium was trying to find the proper words. "I would have taken over his body and used him to judge all mortals in this world before leading the rest to salvation."

"A zealot are we?" asked an amused amazon, feigned surprise in her voice, "And I assume your first act as the goddess of the world would be to kill your sibling Inferno?"

The one she spoke of was the animated suit of insectoid armor that was prostrated next to Elysium. All there was to see of the one called Inferno was a helmet, a pair of gauntlets, two-toed greaves, and a mass of fire that connected the five parts in a humanoid shape. While the flames obscured any identity within and constantly changed shape, it took on a clearly masculine form.

With a sigh, the amazon turned to "Inferno". "And I suppose you would've done the same…except you would've consumed every soul in your path, like the gluttonous little mongrel you are?"

There were no facial expressions to be seen on Inferno's 'face', neither were there any words to describe 'his' anger. But the slight fidget in 'his' stance said enough to the amazon. It wasn't so much as the insult towards 'him' that angered the construct, as much as it was the truth behind it. And there was nothing he could do about it because that 'bitch' was holding 'his' true body. "Now that I know what the two of you originally intended to do, what are you going to do now?"

"As we invaded his body, we saw through the boy's eyes that he'd had a glimpse into the past," answered Elysium, "now that we are both infused into the boy, and our former master has chosen him as his successor, we have no other option but to serve him on his path to kingship. You conquering us only helped speed the process."

"Interesting," said the woman, rubbing her chin in thought, "so how long until he manifests the ability to use you both?"

"We have had plenty of time to allow his body to assimilate us," bit out Inferno, "but he still needs time for the ability to use us both to awaken. We can only allow him use of his powers, but he must discover the limits of this ability for himself."

"So you two are in the same boat as I am?" asked the amazon, seemingly interested in the idea before she began to grin fiercely, "The only difference here is that I'm the queen of you two mongrels!"

"With all due respect, there is only one stipulation, Lady Kurama," interrupted Elysium, "while you are indeed stronger than us, your status is still little more than as regent of this kingdom. Until you prove otherwise in a battle for superiority, young Naruto will always be our future king."

The woman named Kurama simply snorted in derision. Naruto? Beat her? _Ha! Those two mongrels obviously don't know how much more powerful I am compared to that little brat!_ she thought, as she turned her gaze back out to the kingdom of ash, _Future King? Oh he'll be king alright; the king of nothing! In fact, by the time I'm done with him, that little mongrel will become the king of licking the feet of his queen! Although, I do suppose it gets lonely at the top…and I do in fact have an ancient itch that needs scratching. Eh, I'll cross that bridge when I get there…but for now, I'll be waiting for you to prove your kingship to me, Naruto-kun._

There would be time for her to fight Naruto for ownership of the throne, but now was not the time. The legitimacy of her claim would be contested if she destroyed him at this point, and her 'subjects' would have no respect for her. For now, she had to wait, and watch as Naruto got stronger. And when the day came that he became strong enough to fight for the throne, Kurama would come out on top and dominate him as his queen.

* * *

{Play: "Song of the Ancients: Devola" by Okabe Keiichi, from "Nier"}

[Streets of Konoha]

It was very fortunate that the first day of every new session had no homework. This would give Naruto plenty of time to experiment, and find ways of using the power he'd gained from the two swords being stored away into his body. Well, assuming of course, he'd be able to use their power in the first place. _I really hope I get the ability to use them soon,_ he thought, _if I don't, then I'll be sorely disappointed._

As he walked down the desolate streets to Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto began to have a strange feeling tingling up his spine; like someone was watching him. He turned around to hazard a glance behind him. From the corner of his eye, there was a slight blur of indigo that vanished behind a lamp pole. _Eh, I've got some time before I get to Ichiraku's, might as well see who decided to follow me around._

Naruto decided to walk down the street before turning a corner. The second he saw a portal, he leaned against the wall and waited. When he heard the sound of footsteps rounding that same corner, he reached out and grabbed his pursuer by the shirt and pulled them in with a loud squeak. He then pushed the person against the wall, but he could barely contain his surprise when he let out the name of his pursuer: "Hinata-chan?"

It was indeed Hinata, with her eyes wide in surprise and her skin tone flushing into a very deep red. She gave him the image of a cute little mouse that was terrified of him. It only served to make her even more adorable as she shivered, while she choked on her words. "H-h-hai, Naruto-kun."

"What are you doing here?"

"Ummm, I…I…wanted to make sure you…you…you were fine when you got home."

Naruto was touched by her concern for his welfare, but he had a feeling that she wasn't being entirely honest with him. After a moment's consideration, he finally settled on one thought. "Well, I'm going to the Ichiraku's stand before I go home, and I think the Hyūga compound is along the way. Might as well take you home while I'm at it, eh?"

"Uh, s-sure, that would be lovely."

For the next fifteen or so minutes, the two children walked down the streets hand in hand. Hinata had nothing to say, but Naruto had managed to make her laugh with several of his tales of his past pranks. He didn't think that anyone would laugh about his most recent prank: the man he did this to was a big-shot businessman with green hair and yellow eyes by the name of Yūki Terumi. The man pelted Naruto with rocks whenever the two crossed paths, and even threatened to cut his face with those weird-looking knives of his.

In revenge, Naruto followed Terumi to his home near the outskirts of town, and observed him for a few days. When he was confident he knew the man enough, Naruto made his move: he went to the park, and found a certain plant in the park that he roasted, dried, and ground to a fine powder. When the guy got out of the bath, he was sneezing and swelling up because he was in the presence of every cat in Konoha, and he had allergies.

Even now, Hinata could not help but chuckle at the plight "Naruto-kun, did you put catnip in Yūki-san's bath salts?"

"Yep," admitted Naruto proudly, "and because he would not stop hitting me with rocks, now he's going to be followed by cats every hour of the day. Let's see how _he_ likes that!"

The two of them let out a hearty laugh at that. In addition to his throwing of rocks at Naruto, Terumi was rumored to have connections in the underworld. That, and he was also said to be sick in the head.

After a moment of silence, Hinata decided to speak. "Um, Naruto-kun, you mind if I ask what that was about in class?"

_I had a feeling that would come up_, thought Naruto, before sighing. "What about it?"

"I've never seen you t-that angry before," she said, seemingly working up the courage to say those words, "T-th-the way you really tore them down really scared me."

"Yeah, well, I gave them plenty of chances to be good friends. If that's how they're going to treat me, might as well drop them here and now, and be done with it," he responded, depression in his voice.

"I'm not disagreeing with you on what you d-did," stuttered Hinata, "i-i-it's just I…I…I think you were too harsh on them."

"You really think so?" asked Naruto, glancing at Hinata with a searching look in his eyes, "I'd been trying hard the past two years to try and get them to come with me so that we could really be friends. Like we did before we got to school, and they started fussing over Sasuke almost every hour of the day."

"And I understand. It's just that I think you could've taken them aside, and told them gently about what they've been doing."

Naruto began to think about what she just said. _Is she right? Could I have told them about me trying to fix our friendship in a better way?_

"We're here." said Hinata, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts. As he looked beyond the gates, he could see the entire compound. The place looked like a small fortress, and had a few gardens that he could see. The majority of the Hyūga clan lived in this giant mansion, and there were times when he was curious enough to wonder what it was like in that place, particularly the gardens he'd heard so much about. Maybe one day, he'd find a chance to sneak in; if only to have a better look at all the plants there.

As the two of them neared the gates, Naruto saw that there were two guards stationed there. Both of them were Hyūga with their foreheads covered, and each of them was wearing hard leather cuirasses and gauntlets, as well as greaves. Their faces were locked in an eternal deadpan as they looked at him and Hinata. "Hinata-sama, welcome home." said one of the guards.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," laughed Naruto, stepping away nervously from the guards, "I'll see you in school tomorrow, Hinata-chan."

"Goodbye, Naruto-kun!" she said.

Once he was certain that Hinata was safe and sound, Naruto made a run for it. Even though their eyes were white because of their dōjutsu, he had a feeling the guards would've killed him if he stayed any longer. Best not overstay his welcome, and get out as soon as possible. Besides, he still had ramen to eat before he went home.

{Play: "Sole Regret" by Darren Korb, from "Bastion"}

It just so happened that the Uchiha district was not too far from the Hyūga Compound. As far as he remembered, whenever a Hyūga was chasing him after a prank, Naruto would always make a dash for the Uchiha district, and they would end the pursuit there. Come to think of it, ever since the Uchiha Incident, the entire district was said to be haunted by the spirits of the Uchiha clansmen, and so not even realtors would be caught dead in that area. However, because its appearance was not too different from a ghost town, it gave Naruto a good place to lay low after a prank. And even if he had some people brave enough to set foot into the district, there were a lot of hiding places he could use to trap his pursuers and escape.

As he walked down the streets of the Uchiha District, Naruto began to calm down to catch his breath. All he had to do was to cut straight through, and he had a shortcut that would take him to the Ichiraku's ramen stand. And yet, he could not help but to look at the buildings as he passed them by, remembering some of the good times whenever he found himself in the district. As far as he was concerned, he had a so-so relationship with the Uchiha clan at best. Rarely did he ever find anyone that actually liked his company, as a good number of the clan seemed to hate his guts; people like Itachi-nii, Mikoto-obasan, and that weird Uchiha girl were among the few Uchiha that fell in the former category, with most being okay with his presence. Shame that a lot of them died in the Uchiha Massacre.

With every step he took, Naruto could not help but feel that for the second time today, he had eyes on him. It was always like this whenever he crossed the Uchiha District after the Massacre (which led to his fear of ghosts). He never did notice the shadows in the windows above him…

* * *

[Somewhere in the Uchiha District]

A pair of onyx eyes had followed Naruto's movements from a second-story window above a grocery store. The slimmer frame, the wide hips for her age, and her soft features marked this person as a young girl. The watcher had slicked-back raven hair that was held up by a navy blue bandana. Her alabaster skin had spoken volumes of her standing as an upper-class citizen, and she was wearing a midnight blue shirt with off-white shorts.

She honestly didn't know why she did this, considering what he just did today; just that she always wanted to see him. Every day, he normally made a trip through the Uchiha District to go to that ramen stand he liked to eat at every day. This made it easier for her to find him, considering she knew this place like the back of her hand.

Unlike Hinata, the watcher was a lot stealthier when it came to stalking Uzumaki. She always kept a far enough distance away that he would never notice her. This normally meant that she would get up on rooftops to follow him; preferably from three-story buildings.

As she watched him walk down the sunset towards the ramen stand, the watcher could not help but wish for the day that the Uchiha clan was avenged for what Itachi did. When that happened, and it was safe enough, she would drop the lies. She would walk on up to Naruto, and enjoy a bowl of that ramen he liked to eat so much. But above all, to tell him that she wanted to be his friend; anything that came after that, be it marriage or children, would have to wait and see.

But for now, she would follow him home, watch him do several things in his apartment, slip in through his window to watch him sleep, and then go home to sleep in her own bed. After all, tomorrow was likely to bring new surprises.

* * *

_**A/N: As far as Mizuki goes, what Russell Peters's dad likes to say should apply: "Somebody gonna get a hurt REAL BAD." If you want, I can reveal how each Soul Sword has integrated into Naruto's body in the next chapter.**_

* * *

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**(None today)**_

* * *

_**Cameos/References**_

_**Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger─Daft Punk**_

_**Yūki Terumi─Blazblue**_


	3. First Time for Everything

_**A/N: Well now, 12 reviews on chapter 2…that's a downer. Anyway, this story took a while, but I managed to get some work done on it while I was on vacation in Europe (wrote the latter part on the way home from Athens). By the way, I am aiming my high-caliber sniper rifle at different gender-bender targets, so expect me to surprise you with a different take on your favorite male characters. Otherwise, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

{Play: "Main Theme ~Samanosuke's Theme~" by Akari Kaida, from "Onimusha 3: Demon Siege"}

[Unknown location, before chakra]

The sounds of battle were raging on in the valley below. Roars of anger and exertion could be heard from the plains. This was the scene that Ōtsusuki Kaguya had gotten used to since the day she was chosen as heiress of the clan. All this pain and suffering caused by man's lust for power; an endless war that had been going on for as long as she could remember.

But she couldn't focus on that right now; in order to attain peace, her first priority was to bring order to the world. To do that, Kaguya needed to conquer the warring nations in order to secure a power base for her own clan. It was not exactly the most civilized course of action, but it needed to be done if she wanted to make any headway towards peace.

Her mare whinnied as the two of them looked down upon the battle. Kaguya reached a hand out to pet her steed, the soothing strokes calming the black horse. The armor she wore was decorative, but did not skimp on such necessities as protection, and distributing fifty pounds of steel evenly throughout her body; its shape was such that her body was a living sculpture of streamlined flesh and metal. "There, there, Tomoe. We'll get our turn soon enough."

She couldn't blame the mare; all this waiting was getting on her nerves as well. Kaguya's own clan warriors were down in the valley, fighting with allies to secure this land and to assimilate the remaining soldiers belonging to the local warlords. While the Ōtsusuki clan was by no means small or weak, they lacked the location and the numbers for her campaign to bring peace to the world. It was no surprise then, that this battle was very important; the stakes were simply too high.

As she sat on her horse, Kaguya heard the thunderous galloping of someone approaching on horseback. His laminated linen armor and light choice of weapons, leather falconry glove, large rucksack, and the speedy build of his steed marked this man as a scout and a messenger. "Kaguya-sama, the battle is going our way. If we're lucky, we'll have this battle done in a few hours."

"It shall end soon." agreed Kaguya, not taking her eyes off from the battle below, "The lords of this land refuse to see reason, still desiring power above all else. Even now, their people pay the price for their greed. They should've taken my offer to unite the world."

"A foolish mistake on their part, I'm sure, milady." agreed the scout. Within a few seconds, a hawk had keened, its wing beats slowing before the scout had raised his gloved arm to allow it to land. Using his free hand, he pulled a scroll from the hawk's leg before allowing it to perch on his specialized pauldrons before reading its contents. "I've just received word that the enemy forces have been weakened. The cavalry is ready to move out on your command."

"Minamoto, tell Ōkuni to bring them in now. In the meantime, send word to our own warriors to retreat; lest they be trampled by our charge."

"Your wish is my command, Kaguya-sama." bowed Minamoto, before riding off.

Kaguya turned her attention back to the battle below. The plan was simple; use her own warriors to weaken the enemy factions, and then follow through with a cavalry charge. Then, with their armies weakened, the Ōtsusuki clan and their allies would move in to finish the job. After killing the power-hungry fools, and integrating their territories into her own, her first step was to build the infrastructure for her kingdom. Once her clan was settled in, she would continue conquering lands until she had turned her new country into a superpower.

After a few lonely minutes, the thud of horses could be heard getting louder and louder as the Ōtsusuki cavalry had arrived. Each member of the cavalry was mounted on a steed of the highest pedigree, and armed with the best equipment made by her clan. One of them had moved closer to Kaguya. He was an older man that wore the steel plate armor of a cavalry commander, and at his left hip was a cavalry saber. "Milady, the Ōtsusuki cavalry is ready to charge on your command.

"Excellent, Ōkuni. And what of the Wei forces? Were they successful in their campaign?"

"There's no need to ask." said Ōkuni, as the sound of galloping horses and marching was heard in the distance.

Kaguya looked behind to see an army of warriors come up on the horizon. Rank upon rank of cavalry led formations of infantry up to the Ōtsusuki princess in unison. Each man, from the lowliest of footmen, to the decorated officers, was decked in antiquated, but effective lamellar armor.

After a five minutes, the general of the Wei forces rode up to Kaguya and Ōkuni with a retinue of mounted guards. He was tall, had black hair and brown eyes, and had a small beard and mustache. He fittingly wore the reinforced silks of a general under plates of laminated scales of paper that were reinforced with steel plates. At his side, he carried a tsurugi with a long grip, and that was harmonically balanced enough to be used one- or two-handed. Overall, the man's features not only attracted a good amount of attention from the opposite gender, but they also gave the impression of a very competent, but villainous leader.

Kaguya knew the general better than to paint him as a conniving villain. True, he was ambitious, but he was far more than just ambition and good looks. "You're on time; that's good. I trust the matter with Lü Bu been dealt with?"

"Yes, milady. I've seen to it personally that Lü Bu has been executed."

"Didn't you say you wanted him on your side, Cao Cao?

The man named Cao Cao nodded next to his lady. "That I did. But after a moment of reflection, I decided to test Lü Bu with a question, asking him what power was for. Suffice to say, he failed to give a satisfactory answer, so I executed him and recruited his lieutenant. Besides, given his reputation for betrayal, I chose not to take any chances."

"Wise choice." Cao Cao was a warlord that the Ōtsusuki clan had encountered in country of Wei, and had proven to be a very reliable ally. In addition to being a clever tactician, an avid proponent and student of archaeology, an accomplished martial artist, and a shrewd politician. While he was known to be ruthless, Cao Cao was a very complicated individual; and it showed when he agreed to join in Kaguya's quest to bring peace to the world. "Now is the time to attack!"

Kaguya reared back her horse, calling for her followers to charge with her. Halfway down the slopes of the valley, thunder began to crash down upon the battlefield. The Cao-Ōtsusuki cavalry had pulled the reins just in time for a bright light had begun to wash over the battlefield, blinding everyone on the battle, and grinding down all actions by the down to a halt

When the light had faded out into nothingness, everyone looked around as soon as their visions had cleared. "What happened?" asked Cao Cao, blinking away the blindness. Kaguya looked around the valley to find the source of the light that temporarily blinded everyone.

…

{Play: "Afternoon of Konoha" by Toshiro Masuda, from "Naruto"}

[Konoha Ninja Academy, present day]

Iruka's teaching could not be any more boring. Don't get him wrong, it wasn't the lesson or the teacher that turned students off; not even close. If anything, it was Iruka's delivery that was Naruto's biggest killjoy about going to school. But right now would prove to be useful for stress relief, as well as a good diversion from his attempts to figure out how to use Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.

The sound of children muttering to each other quietly was in the air as the sparring matches were on. This was done on the first week of classes to do several things, most important of which being to get the students back into shape after two weeks of vacation. The other reason was to review them on how well they knew the academy taijutsu style. However, the subject of the fight for today was Naruto and Sasuke.

Many of the students had no kind words for Naruto's fight against Sasuke. The only ones who had nothing to say were Hinata, Sakura, and Ino. Between the three girls, Hinata's expression was hopeful for Naruto's victory. The latter two on the other hand were far more subdued, likely from whatever it was that Naruto had said to them. Iruka shrugged his shoulders, deciding it was nothing as he turned his attention back to Naruto and Sasuke. "Okay, you two know the drill!" he called out to Sasuke and Naruto, "You have ninety-nine seconds; you lose if you're pushed out of the ring, or if anything but your hands and feet touch the ground."

Sasuke had slipped into the standard academy stance; arms up front, body profile minimized, one foot in front of the other. Naruto stood in the stance the teachers 'taught' him; his entire front was exposed, his arms and feet wide apart, and overall presenting a very easy target to hit. The reason he used this stance was because every time he would try to stand the way Sasuke did, he was met with disapproval.

Best-case scenario, the teachers would tell him he was doing it wrong and show him the 'correct way' to stand which would wind up getting him pummeled by Sasuke easily. That, or they would disqualify Naruto before he even fought Sasuke.

In the rare worst-case scenario, they would pounce on Naruto as soon as he assumed the same stance, and claim he was going to kill Sasuke. They would then proceed to rapidly beat his face into a pile of mincemeat for the Uchiha bastard, shortly before declaring it a victory by default in Sasuke's favor. Luckily however, this would not happen under Iruka-sensei's watch, but Naruto didn't want to take any chances that it was a façade. Besides, it's not like the teachers are going to say anything about it.

Naruto's back was now slightly hunched, and his left foot slid forward with his heel raised while planting his right on the ground; the entirety of the stance put weight on the balls of his feet, the light bouncing enabled him to make lightning-quick advances and retreats. His clenched fists were raised, his forearms protecting his head while also preparing to make fast jabs at his target. A bit of experimentation the last week in taijutsu stances since absorbing the Soul Swords had led him to assume a stance he figured would give him better odds.

"Naruto, that's not the basic taijutsu stance," sighed Iruka, nodding in disappointment, "I don't even know what to make of this one."

"Well the stance I was taught kept getting me beat up easy," countered Naruto, not shifting his stance, "So I decided to try something different."

Iruka shrugged his shoulders. "Your funeral." Once he saw that both students were ready, he raised his hand. The tension between the two boys was very palpable, as they seemingly twitched in their stances. Kids were betting that Naruto would get his ass kicked in a few seconds from trying to look cool, the pool getting even bigger in the event that Sasuke would make him look stupid while his ass was getting kicked in one second.

None of the other teachers dared to interrupt this fight; after all, Iruka was (along with being a whistle-blower with a lot of clout) a very capable shinobi. Besides, the Uchiha was more than likely going to win anyway.

"HAJIME!"

That one word had begun the fight between the two boys. Sasuke charged in with a feint to focus Naruto's attention to his left hook. Naruto managed to lean back to parry away the left punch, only to take a right straight to the chin. Luckily for him, the punch didn't have enough force in it to knock him down, and so he managed to back away from a jab. After that, Naruto managed to recover enough to give Sasuke a right knee to the side, followed by an uppercut.

"What's the matter, dobe? You afraid you're going to lose as usual?" taunted Sasuke, hoping to bait Naruto into attacking.

"Nah, I'm just waiting for you to come to me."

Sasuke frowned upon hearing that from Naruto. "What are you, a Nara-boy?"

"I take offense to that!" shouted a very annoyed Nara Shika. While she had a more feminine version of her father's features, the girl had obviously taken after her mother Yoshino in terms of finding ways to...motivate the men of her clan. Needless to say, it was more than likely that she would wind up as quite the slave-driver.

"I can wait here all day!" countered Naruto, "Or are you too chicken to come to me?"

{Play: "Time To Say Goodbye" by Jeff Williams, from "RWBY OST, Volume 2"}

Sasuke charged. The second he was within a few feet, Naruto continued the fight by delivering a knee to his opponent's side, which Sasuke managed to block just in time to duck away from the kick that followed from the shin of same leg. However, Naruto was not finished, as he had used the momentum of the last kick just as Sasuke got back up to transition into a spinning jump-kick, forcing Sasuke to slide under the leg. Once he landed on the ground, Naruto turned around just in time to see Sasuke throwing a combo of three punches, which Naruto answered in kind. Once he pushed his opponent away from himself to get some leg room, a Naruto raised his knee, causing Sasuke to brace himself; seeing his opponent ready to block, he then quickly transitioned into a low stance to perform a backwards leg sweep that caught Sasuke off-balance.

Sasuke bent backwards while shifting his weight onto his hands, transforming the momentum of his fall into a backwards somersault. As soon as he landed back on his feet, Sasuke quickly moved back in on a rising Naruto, throwing another three-punch combo before following through with a roundhouse kick to the head, and an aerial double-roundhouse. Naruto managed to block the punches, answering with two of his own, but was hit in the face with the first roundhouse, before ducking under the jump-kicks. Naruto was kicked in the back hard enough to turn him around, grabbed by the collar, and was pulled in to be punched with a heavy jab to the face. He in turn grabbed Sasuke by the collar, and was about to punch back when whistle had sounded off. "Time's up!" announced Iruka, pulling the whistle from his mouth, "The match is a draw by timeout."

The match had left a good number of people speechless. Nobody had expected that Uzumaki Naruto, the dead-last of the academy, would put up much of a fight against the rookie of the year, much less last a whole ninety-nine seconds against him. And the fact that he was using a stance not taught at the academy only added to the shock.

However, it was not quiet for long.

"Iruka-sensei, that can't be right! Sasuke-kun was supposed to be the winner of the match! Not some dead-last loser!"

"Yeah, Naruto should be disqualified! He wasn't even using the stance we were taught, so that should not even be fair!"

The amount of maledictions fired Naruto's way were endless. The Sasuke fan girls had a variety of bad things to say about the match. However, before Naruto could say a word to defend himself, Iruka beat him to the punch. "Will you all just shut up?! So Naruto tied with Sasuke! Big deal! At least he's done a lot more than all of you that are putting him down!" he screamed, silencing every that cried foul about the results. Once he was satisfied with the stunned silence he'd left the Sasuke fan club in, Iruka turned his attention to a purple-haired girl that sat next to Ino. "Ami, your grades are so horrible that even Kiba and Kira are smarter than you…and Hinata keeps beating you in your spars even without using her Byakūgan!"

He then turned his attention to another girl that sat behind Shika. "Yumi, your grades are a little better than Ami's, but even Sakura has an easy time beating you in taijutsu."

Once he'd picked out some of the worst offenders in crying for Sasuke's undeserved victory, Iruka then began to address the rest of the Sasuke fan girls. "The fact of the matter is, that no matter how low his grades are, Naruto's actually better than any of you girls that spend every hour of the day fantasizing about your marriage to Sasuke! In fact, just now, it looks like he's made more improvement than you. Aren't you all ashamed of yourselves?"

As they seemed to process what it was that Iruka has just told to them, the Sasuke fan club could only let their jaws hang at the prospect of Naruto being better than them.

Naruto on the other hand, silently ascended the steps of the bleachers. The satisfaction he felt at the idea of his improvement was overwhelming. Sure, he wasn't able to beat Sasuke in taijutsu, but at least he was able to take the boy down a peg. As he took steps up the bleachers, he felt a quick slap on his ass. He quickly turned around to find the culprit, only to find nobody; just a line of prospective genin behind him that included the genius slave-driver Nara Shika, the ever-silent Aburame Shino (whom he never got a chance to speak with), and cute-as-a-button Hinata.

Deciding it was nothing, Naruto continued walking up the bleachers. It's probably nothing, but why do I feel so cold all of a sudden?

…

{Play: "This is a Fight to Change the World" by Hiroyuki Sawano, from "Sengoku Basara"}

[Unknown Location, before chakra]

The man at the crest of the valley looked down upon the warriors at the bottom, his arms apparently folded in front of his chest. Even at a distance, Kaguya could feel his gaze passing her over; making her feel naked before some almighty god that was looking down on her. And she had no idea if she was seeing things, but it looked as though he were floating. Whoever he was, this man was not some nameless foot soldier: the way he seemed to carry himself was the way a king would.

He spread his body, letting out a roar that caught the attention of everyone in the valley, as a blue and a red crystal blade had formed over his hands. The kingly man let out another majestic battle cry as he glided down the slope of the valley at high speeds. The blades gave him the appearance of some majestic bird of prey swooping down on a smorgasbord of animals ripe for the slaughter.

As soon as he reached the bottom of the valley, small flashes of light began to trail after him, each one sporadically exploding into a shower of sparks in seconds. Emerging from each and every flash of light was a warrior, each one carrying a different weapon as they charged down the valley. Eventually, their numbers grew until they evenly matched the number of warriors that were originally fighting.

Seeing no other choice, the armies banded together to fight. They began to charge back at the newcomers that dared to challenge their lords.

"What shall we do now?" asked Ōkuni, anxious to join in on the fight.

"We shall wait and watch," said Kaguya, pulling out her spyglass, "if we're lucky, the battle can still be won, and these newcomers will be dealt with easily."

As soon as the two sides clashed, it was clear from the get-go that it was a slaughter. From what she could see through her spyglass, the warriors doling out said slaughter were gaining the upper hand despite being composed of nothing but infantry. There was no uniformity in their war gear, but it was clear that everyone among these new warriors were no strangers to the battlefield. Kaguya could also see hardened veterans and talented youths in their number; a variety of experience levels to be sure, but a consistently high amount of skill throughout. Once in a while, she could see a flash of blue and red jumping in and out of the fray like dolphin breaching through water; there was no doubt in her mind that the 'king' was scoring an ungodly kill count when compared with the other soldiers.

"Kaguya-dono, we're surrounded!" cried the voice of Minamoto, breaking Kaguya out of her observations. He was riding quickly towards her with a frantic expression on his face, "An army has suddenly appeared behind us, and they are overrunning us! What shall we do?"

"We have no other option," suggested Cao Cao, "if we're going to survive, we'll have to fight our way out."

"I don't trust that foreigner one bit, Kaguya-sama," said Ōkuni, glaring at Cao Cao with suspicion, "but I will have to admit that he's right; we have no other choice but to fight our way out of this."

"We will fight with the warriors in front of us," said Kaguya, shaking off her trepidation, "we may not get out of this battle unscathed, but at least there will be survivors." She then turned her attention back to Minamoto. "Send word to the rest of the men; we're going to push through."

Minamoto bowed. "Yes, milady." As he galloped to the army behind, Kaguya could only brace herself for the mess she was about to ride into. There was no guarantee of her survival, but at least there was a chance; slim as it was.

…

[Streets of Konoha, present day]

It was a pleasant night for a walk. The moon showered the world with its silvery light, unimpeded by any night clouds. It was also a beautiful moment for Naruto to take a stroll through the town after a night of gorging on more bowls of ramen than usual. After fighting Sasuke to a standstill earlier today, he felt like celebrating his victory, no matter how small. To finish off the meal, he went to the sweets stand across the street from the Ichiraku family's ramen stand to enjoy a few slices of that double-fudge chocolate cake that Sakura's cousin Momoka was famous in the village for, and a cup of tea on the side.

As he took a look at the buildings he was walking through, Naruto could not help but to appreciate the beauty of his surroundings. Sure, none of them were open, but he rather liked the peace and quiet for once. Although it does seem a little too quiet…

His suspicions were proven to be correct when he saw a lone figure walking out of the alley. The figure was dressed in a beige flak jacket, and was wearing a balaclava over his head. Judging from the way he carried himself, Naruto could tell that this was no pushover; this was a full-blooded shinobi. The kunai in his hand had made it obvious as to what he intended to do.

Naruto turned around to see that there was another shinobi that had come out of the alley from behind him. Aside from the fact that he had a slimmer profile, his second assailant looked exactly like the first. "A bit late for an assassination attempt isn't it?" he asked, hoping to get an idea of whom it was that was going to kill him. No such luck; the two shinobi readied their kunai, and charged.

Naruto jumped aside just in time for his would-be murderers to narrowly miss him. However, they were far from finished with him as they used the momentum from their missed slashes to throw their kunai. He moaned in pain as he was pierced in the back of both of his legs. As he tried to crawl away, Naruto could hear their footsteps drawing closer before he was kicked in the side hard enough to flip him onto his back. He was then subject to nonstop stomping from both shinobi as they targeted his vitals, including but not limited to his face.

As the stomping continued, Naruto felt something going on in his chest. In the span of two seconds, six blades shot from outside his rib cage, and skewered the two shinobi that were stomping on him and retracting. After a moment's delay, they both fell dead beside a recovering Naruto.

Standing up to take into account as to what had just happened, Naruto began to wonder exactly what was going on. He then looked down at his hands with a silent question on his mind: Did I just do that?

Sensing that he was not out of danger yet, Naruto took a look at his surroundings. Sure enough, there were four more shinobi in the area. Okay, now this can't be a coincidence, he thought to himself, Sasuke had six teachers in class that were kissing his ass in taijutsu lessons; all of them either taught me that bad stance, or kicked my ass for Sasuke. Looks like I just killed two of them.

"Don't you think it's a bit much?" asked an elderly voice, catching everyone's attention. The speaker was a bearded man nearing his mid-sixties, and was very well-built for an old man. He wore a metal pauldron, white pants, and dark boots, and his bare chest was covered in blue tattoos. He sat cross-legged against a tree, and resting on his lap was a longsword with runes running down the face of the blade. There was something about this elder that said he'd seen and done it all. "Six full-grown adults, two of whom were obviously killed in self-defense, out to kill a child. Oh how far you must have fallen."

The shinobi all drew their kunai, two of them split off to kill the old man while the remaining two went after Naruto. The old man stood up and slipped into a fighting stance while swinging his blade upward to cut one shinobi deeply across the chest, before bringing it back down to decapitate the second shinobi. Once he was done, the old man walked leisurely towards the two remaining shinobi as their colleague that was slashed across the chest died noisily enough to stop them from getting any closer to Naruto. As they turned their attention to the old man with shock more than obvious in their stances, he was fairly certain that there was a smirk under the swordsman's beard as he shouldered his sword. "Are you going to stand there gawking, or are you going to fight?"

His answer came when the two remaining shinobi turned to face the swordsman, their footwork mussed up from what Naruto guessed to be rage. The swordsman's response was to wind back, kick one of the shinobi in the chest before bringing his blade back down to bisect his opponent in one go. Once he was done with one shinobi, the old man then brought his sword around and down upon the head of the final, surviving shinobi.

Everything was quiet as the old man shook the blood off his sword. He then turned his attention to a stunned Naruto. "There's no need to fear," he said, walking leisurely towards Naruto, "I am not here to kill you, young one. I'm just here to see you."

"About what?" asked Naruto.

"…your path to kingship."

…

**_A/N: Sorry it's short. I was very enthusiastic about submitting this next chapter. Hopefully, the number of reviews I get in this chapter will not be so disappointing..._**

**_…_**

**_Vocabulary:_**

**_Cao Cao─a warlord from the Three Kingdoms period._**

**_Lü Bu─a powerful general from the Three Kingdoms period. A great fighter, and by far one period's biggest backstabbers._**

**_Momoka─Sakura's cousin, her name is written as_**

**_…_**

**_Cameos/References_**

**_Lü Bu's fate─this is based on an event in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", where Lü Bu was executed after his defeat at the hands of Cao Cao. Lü Bu was known as the best fighter in the Three Kingdoms period, and Cao Cao knew this (which was why he was considering to get him on his side). What sealed Lü Bu's fate was that he was well-known as a backstabbing son of a bitch._**

**_Naruto's stance─a standard Muay Thai stance._**


	4. The Mentor

_**A/N: I've heard people assuming that Naruto's rescuer was Mitsurugi; the question I have for you folks is, whoever said that only Mitsurugi could use Mitsurugi's style? I won't name the rescuer, but it should be obvious as to who it is in the chapter. Either way, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

_**And please, no useless comments like "all your stories suck," or "This is NaruHina, I'm not reading it anymore," or even "You are a hack writer." I don't even want to hear a combination of those remarks. If you have nothing nice or useful to say, then please do the smart thing by shutting the hell up…lest I have to stitch your mouth shut with an organic suture, a very dull needle, and moving really slowly.**_

…

{Play: "Nightfall" by Martin O'Donnel, from "Halo Reach"}

[Unknown Location, before chakra]

Kaguya woke up to find herself looking at a stone floor. As her view cleared, she began to look around to see clouds around. She willed her knees to stand up, only to be forced back down onto her knees with a kick to her back. The sight of halberds threatening to behead her only reinforced the message that she was a prisoner. A quick glance to her left, and Kaguya met gazes with a battle-worn Cao Cao. To her right was Ōkuni, also in the same position as the two of them. It was clear that the three of them were taken prisoner.

The last thing she remembered, she was leading the charge to push her way out of the king's assault. The push was very hard, successfully causing the battle formations before her to bulge before the breakthrough was made. After that, Kaguya recalled that the push was successful in making an opening for escape. Next thing she knew, Tomoe was frightened by a warrior, before throwing her off her back.

"Most of your men have fled with their lives." said a regal voice, the flange adding more power, "you are indeed brave souls to have chosen to save them first."

Turning to see the owner of the voice, she saw the 'king' for herself, walking in from the side in armor that made him look more bird-like: a metal cuirass that hugged his curves and had a muscular design; a scale fauld with large, feather-like plates; and a pair of greaves over leather sandals that resembled the talons of a bird. Even his feathered white hair looked like the plumage that complimented his powerful, aquiline features, made all the more clear by the sharpened nails that tipped every finger and toe.

No matter how one put it, even Kaguya had to admit that the man before her radiated even more power than she was capable of showing. From the way he carried his towering mass of lean and powerful muscle over her kneeling form, to the way he looked down upon her with golden eyes, everything about this man screamed of a power that had been earned through willpower alone. In a way, she felt that it was fitting that they were being made to kneel before this regal figure; his very presence alone was enough to make every cell in her body acknowledge his power as king.

The eagle-man's gaze had not left the three of them, not even as women sauntered into the area, their almost-naked forms revealed for the world to see through the translucent silks they wore. There were nubile beauties that had just made it to the marrying age standing alongside women that had been matured to their prime. Some had scars that told a long and storied life of battle, while others had flawless skin that hid their true potential; all of them had the sleek body of a trained fighter that seamlessly merged form with function.

Their hands quickly went to work, gently and lovingly taking off every piece of armor from the eagle-man's body. By the time they were done, he was almost naked; his muscular body was bare of any clothes save for his cape, golden anklets and bracelets, and a sort of loincloth that covered his privates. It all helped to contribute to the image of some primeval king; quite possibly even the first king ever.

With a snap of his fingers, the women had parted from their king, flanking him on both sides as a granite throne with the head of a cobra had appeared from behind him. The eagle-king sat down, and slouched in his seat. His gaze had not left the three of them. "The only question I have now is…what should I do with you?"

"Enough talk!" shouted Ōkuni, "We came here to claim this land, and then you had to come on over here with your army!"

Kaguya stared at Ōkuni with equal parts fear and anger. _Fool! Does he want that man to kill us all?!_

Any other words he had on his mind were cut off when someone kicked him in the back. "Speak when spoken to, dreg," said the guard that kicked him, "you are in the presence of a king. Show the proper respect as befitting of our liege!"

"Well he is not my king! And I will not bow before him!"

"I cannot tell if you are brave or foolish," said the king, "few have managed to stand up to me; even fewer have survived."

"Then I guess you can count me among those who will survive!"

"Ōkuni, what are you doing?" hissed Kaguya, hoping the cavalry captain would not do anything foolish.

"You dare challenge my power?" asked the king, with an amused smirk on his face.

"Yeah, I'm challenging you!" shouted Ōkuni, before a devious grin had creased his face, "Or are you too chicken to do anything without your sluts and your goon squad? I'll bet they're actually incompetent without you in charge!"

The king said nothing; the amused smirk had turned into a frown. He fired a cold glare in his direction before turning his attention to the warriors holding down Ōkuni; single nod was all that it took for the bodyguards holding down Ōkuni to gently lower their weapons and step aside. As he stood back up, he was soon engulfed in a bright blue light. When the light had cleared, Kaguya saw that the captain of her cavalry was looking at his hands in curiosity. Gone was the slouch of tiredness, and all the wear and tear from the day's battle were healed as if nothing had ever happened. She then watched as one of the guards threw a sword to the floor in front of him; it was a cavalry saber, his favored weapon.

"I have restored you to the strength you had before you fought today." said the eagle-man, rising from his throne. As soon as the throne had faded out of existence, the apparent servants had stepped aside, each one taking position by a column that had surrounded the area. Cao Cao and Kaguya were forced to stand up, and then pushed in such a manner that they were able to see what was unfolding.

"You now have no excuse to cry over your defeat." continued the eagle-man, folding his arms in front of his chest, "Since you have seen fit to challenge me, it is only fitting that I show you your place. Show me your best, warrior."

…

[Konohagakure no Sato, present time]

His shock knew no bounds. Naruto had wondered what this old geezer was going on about. "Why do you know about my path to kingship?"

"Because I wish to know what kind of ruler you will be." said the old man.

"I'd wait until later before questioning Naruto-kun any further." came a voice from behind the old man. It was a silver-haired shinobi with a dog mask that marked him as an ANBU operative. He wore a black tank-top under a lightweight flak jacket, and gray pants. "After all, as commendable as you were in saving him, you did just commit murder. And before you even think of escaping, you're already surrounded."

The old man didn't even bother to take a good look around; he simply gave the area a glance-over and scoffed. But what Naruto saw was enough to worry him. All around, there were shinobi with bone-white animal masks surrounding the area. Each of them looked ready to draw blood.

"What makes you think you can stop me?" he asked, not at all worried by the number of ANBU operatives that had just appeared. Whether this man was brave or stupid, Naruto had no idea; but from the way he carried himself with an air of confidence borne from experience, he could only assume it was the former. "Granted, given what I see, there are around fourteen shinobi in the area, and all of you are at least ANBU-level. I sense that there are four in the mix that have enough promise to make me break a sweat, one of whom could possibly take me on with a very slim chance of winning. The rest are a joke."

Most of the nearby ANBU operatives flinched, the amount of anger was obvious in the way they clenched their ninjato and kunai tightly. "Very observant," said the ANBU with the dog-mask, raising an arm to stop his comrades from attacking, "you're obviously not just an old man, especially since you were able to kill four Chūnin without any effort. Even so, who is to say that the fourteen operatives you see now will soon become thirty?"

"I do not fear the idea of wading through an army with so few notable fighters," replied the old man, folding his arms in front of his chest, "In fact, I bet it'd just make the fight more even."

"And I believe you. The only question is, how many shinobi will it take to get you to comply?"

The old man sighed in exasperation. "You're not going to let me ask my questions of the boy until I speak with the old monkey, are you? Fine, I'll go see the Hokage…but only because I respect your determination."

…

{Play: "To Victory" by Tyler Bates, from "300"}

[Unknown Location, before chakra]

Ōkuni roared as he charged the eagle-king with his saber in hand. His opponent stood with his arms folded in front of his chest. Kaguya had no idea what to make of what would happen in this fight; but whatever it was, the eagle-king seemed confident enough if he wasn't going to shift his stance. His first move was an attempt to skewer the eagle-king, but his opponent stepped aside with just the barest of movements, before weaving away from a kick aimed at his abdomen.

As both Kaguya and Cao Cao looked on at the fight before them, it was very obvious that it was a one-sided match in favor of the eagle-king. There was very little effort in any of his movements as he dodged Ōkuni's every strike; ducking under high kicks, sidestepping overhead slashes, and tilting his head away from punches and stabs. All throughout the duel, there was no indication that the eagle-king had to ever unfold his arms; as though he'd been fighting for a long time.

This was of course taking into consideration that Ōkuni was a devastating combatant with a saber, and that he was a very skilled duelist. Few could compare to his aggressive swordplay, and yet here was a total stranger that exceeded all expectations by fighting him with a weapon he knew all too well. And what seemed to be even more humiliating for the cavalry captain was that the eagle-king was not even using his blue and red crystal blades in the fight.

After a good ten minutes, Ōkuni began to slow down, and his movements became sloppier. He was getting tired, and the eagle-king was noticing it as well. He looked on at Ōkuni with disgust in his eyes as he stood panting and glaring. "If that is your best, then I am sorely disappointed." he sighed, "I gave you every advantage, and yet you are not able to match me. I suppose now is the time for me to show you how real kings fight when dealing with fools such as yourself."

For the first time in the fight, the eagle-king unfolded his arms and put them up to guard his front, while hunching slightly forward. His weight was now shifted onto the balls of his feet. "Come at me if you wish."

Ōkuni summoned up the strength he had left to charge, continuing the fight with a downward slash. The eagle-king ran forward to meet him head-on, block the sword strike, and counter with a quick jab to the face. Once Ōkuni began to recoil from the quick shot to his nose, the eagle-king followed through with a heavy kick to his side to knock him down. Ōkuni managed to stand back up, nursing his face as he watched the eagle-king slowly advancing towards him with his guard lowered. The Ōtsusuki clan member attempted to continue the fight with a jump kick only for his leg to be grabbed by the ankle before the eagle-king placed his other hand on his thigh to throw him in the opposite side. As soon as he got back up, he attempted a three-hit slash only to be dodged and punched in every weak point in his offense with the force of a mountain, followed by a knee to his solar plexus, and getting knocked back by a backwards straight kick. The eagle-king rushed Ōkuni quickly, lifting him by the crotch and the shoulder, flipping him around so that his head was to the ground, and then ending by dropping Ōkuni onto his outstretched knee.

The eagle-king rolled him off his knee, horrifying Kaguya and Cao Cao with how badly beaten Ōkuni was. He stumbled back up, working very hard to shake off the fear that he felt from the beating he'd just taken. As he took a look around, he saw the guards and female attendants step aside, revealing that he was near the edge of the floor; it was a long way down. As he turned his attention to the front, the eagle-king took slowly walked closer. There was no hesitation in his step, as he inched menacingly towards him, and every approaching footfall seemed to increase the frequency at which Ōkuni felt his legs tremble. His grip on the saber was anything but steady, the tip of his blade shivering from the overwhelming fear he felt.

There was no point to fighting anymore. He dropped his saber weakly. "I surrender."

"You may insult me as you wish, I will have no qualms." said the eagle-king, stopping just a few feet in front of Ōkuni. "Insult my subjects on the other hand, and you will know pain."

"A-and I realize my mistake." he said, trying his hardest to placate his adversary. "Please, I beg of you to accept my apologies, and let me live."

Kaguya and Cao Cao could feel no satisfaction in the eagle-king's eyes as he looked upon Ōkuni's pathetic form. It was as though he were looking through his enemy with a scrutinizing glare, trying to get a feel for him. Whatever it was that the eagle-king was seeing in Ōkuni, it was clear to them that his answer would not be good, and they knew it. Their prediction about the cavalry captain's fate was confirmed when two words left his mouth: "I decline."

There was no end to the desperation that Ōkuni felt. "Why?"

"I see no reason to explain myself to scum like you. All you need to know is that you are going to die."

"You're insane!" said Ōkuni, his voice barely a whisper, "YOU'RE A MADMAN!"

There was no change in the eagle-king's expression. "Madman?" he asked, before he raised his voice angrily. "I AM KING!"

Ōkuni could only scream as the eagle-king landed a powerful side-kick in the chest, knocking him over the edge of the tower. His screams of terror gradually faded into the distance as he fell down many stories.

…

[Hokage's office, present day]

It was at night, and it was tiring as both Naruto and the old man sat in front of Hiruzen, with a number of ANBU guarding them. This was something that the Hokage had wished would happen in the daytime, but this set of news he received just had to take place at night. And just as he was about to settle down at home too! Wasn't life grand? But still, something as serious as an outsider slaying four chūnin without an ounce of effort was something he couldn't ignore. Said chūnin also just so happened to be teachers in the Ninja Academy. Something he couldn't explain was that Naruto was able to kill two of his attackers by accident.

"I heard that you've killed four of my shinobi." said Hiruzen, working through his weariness to stay on task. "Were it not for the fact that they apparently tried to murder a child, I would've charged you with manslaughter, and the murder of shinobi. What I want to know is why you came to Naruto-kun's defense."

"I felt that I had to honor an old friend of mine." began the old man, "He once said that his successor would rise to take his place as king; I would guess the second someone found his weapons Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. To that end, I swore that as soon as his successor was found, I would teach him to be a proper king."

Naruto's eyes had widened in surprise as he heard the two names as he looked at the old man that had not turned his gaze away from Hiruzen. He looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. "How do you know about Soul Edge and Soul Calibur?"

"Because I once fought the warrior that wielded them." answered the old man, "I know that the Soul swords grant you the memories of the people that once used them, or were killed by them. If you don't believe me, then try very hard; see if you remember me."

Hiruzen watched as Naruto tried hard to remember, as per the stranger's command. It took a few seconds, but there was soon recognition in his eyes as he turned to face the old man. "You! I know you!"

The amount of surprise that Hiruzen felt upon hearing those words. "Naruto, who is this man, and why do you know him?"

"Jiji, we never met, but I know who he is." said Naruto, with certainty in his voice, "And in all honesty, except for that dog-masked shinobi we met, I don't think anybody in this room has a chance against him. Not even you."

Hiruzen was disturbed by the tone of voice that Naruto had taken. The boy was known for his pranks, and so it was a given he would say anything to avoid getting punished; but when he was actually serious about something, that was a cause for concern. He turned his attention to the old man. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am." replied the old man, calmly reclining in his seat. He'd had his sword checked in at the front desk before coming up to the office, but Hiruzen did not feel any safer. "What matters is what you wish to ask of young Naruto."

Working up the nerve he had left, Hiruzen gulped. He needed to be stronger, even if the man he was questioning was clearly beating him in that regard. "What is he talking about, Naruto?"

Naruto looked as if he were debating with himself as to whether he should tell him or not. After a moment's deliberation, he took a deep breath. He related to Hiruzen a story about finding a cave a little while ago, and eventually finding some chamber with a glass statue of a man that knelt in front of a sculpture of a sword stabbing into a one-eyed creature. After pulling out the sword, Naruto was attacked by both the creature and the sword, blacking out. "…and then I heard some voice saying 'child, walk your own path to kingship.' I don't know how he wants me to do this, but I promised him that I'd be best king one day."

"And Soul Calibur and Soul Edge?" asked Hiruzen.

"I'm still trying to learn how to use them, but I know they are a part of me now." answered Naruto, "So far, I can't seem to get them to form."

"Which now comes back to my question about your path to kingship." said the old man. "I will make my next move depending on your answer."

Hiruzen looked at the old man with suspicion in his eyes. "And if he gives the wrong answer?"

"We will go from there." replied the old man, before regarding Naruto. "Are you ready for the question?"

There was a moment's pause as Naruto seemed to contemplate his decision. After a few seconds, he made up his mind. "Go ahead and ask."

"What does it mean to be king?"

Naruto began to ponder the meaning of the question. Why did he want to be king? If Algol had not named him his successor, why would he want to be king? And judging from the old man's expression, he needed to think long and hard about the answer. But Naruto had an answer that he knew was a reason he wanted to be king. "A king must live to serve his people, and show them the way. He protects those who are important to him, and works to make his people great. That is what it means to be king."

The old man looked at Naruto with an appraising gaze. After ten seconds of silence, a smile could be seen under his beard. "Good answer. I was afraid you'd break under the pressure and give me a bad one."

"What would've happened if I gave you a bad answer?"

"I'd have chopped your head off, and saved the world from a tyrant." said the old man. The casual way in which he admitted his desire to cut off Naruto's head for giving a bad answer was disturbing. "However, since you gave me a good answer, I will be mentoring you personally in the art of combat whenever you are not in class."

Naruto seemed excited by the prospect of being the old man's protégé. "Hokage-jiji, is it okay?"

"I really don't know." he said, "I do appreciate that he saved you, but he still killed four shinobi. Who's to say he won't go out on a killing spree?"

"You're welcome to try and stop me" challenged the old man, causing every ANBU guard in the room to tense up. He did not take his attention away from Hiruzen, as he sized up the old Hokage. "From the calluses on your hands, and the way you move, I can tell you're familiar with the art of the quarterstaff. And even though your skills are dulled from lack of training, and your advanced age, I can see that the fight would been more even when you use your jutsu and your wits. You would indeed be a good match for my student, even as old as you are; however, you are much too old to be a match for me in a straight-up fight, and a good number of your shinobi lack the training and experience to take me on."

Nobody wanted to admit it, but they could feel the power in the foreigner's words. Hiruzen figured that Naruto already knew of the man's capabilities, from the memories that the two swords had given him. The Hokage didn't want to admit it, but he had a feeling that the old man was more than capable of taking down everyone in the room with just the chair he was sitting on. Thankfully, he was not sitting on a steel folding chair. He sighed defeatedly, knowing he'd lost. "Will you allow shinobi to watch your progress?"

"If it makes you feel better."

"Then I approve, so long as you have a shinobi minder that will report your progress to me."

The old man nodded. "Then we have an accord."

…

[Unknown Location]

Kurama watched as the old man and the old monkey shook hands. She of course knew who he was, given that she too had the memories from Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. "Train hard kit," she said to herself, slouching on her seat. She was flanked on both sides by Elysium and Inferno, both spirits of the swords watching on in approval to the arrangement. "Train so that when I defeat you, you will become my most favored slave of all. Barring that, I expect nothing less than a good fight before I kill you."

…

{Play: "Fateful Encounter" from "Soul Calibur IV"}

[Unknown Location, before chakra]

Kaguya and Cao Cao had just watched the eagle-king kick Ōkuni off the edge of the tower. They could hear his screams gradually disappearing as he fell down its many stories, and knew that the cavalry captain's fate would be a very messy death. He then turned to regard them with the same appraising gaze as his last victim as he approached them; summoning his throne from behind him. "Now then, what to do with the two of you?" he asked himself, settling down on his throne.

"Kill us or release us," said Kaguya, "But do not waste our time."

The eagle-king looked at Kaguya as she spoke. As their eyes met, she had a pretty good idea on how Ōkuni felt in his last moments. She felt naked as the eagle-king's gaze seemed to go through her body, but she refused to show fear. She would challenge him in one form or another. "You dare speak to a king in this manner? After doing you a favor?"

"I speak out as princess of my clan," she fired back, finding the confidence in herself to stand up to the tyrant before her, "Someone must challenge you and your tyranny, regardless of my cavalry captain's slight against you."

"Your cavalry captain thought himself your better. If I had let him live, he would have incited a rebellion that would bring about unnecessary bloodshed."

Kaguya had nothing to say to that. Even she knew of the darkness within Ōkuni's heart, but felt that he was of more use to her alive than dead. But when the time came, she promised herself that he would be first on the list when she began to rid the clan of its more corrupt members.

"You interest me, and therefore, I shall release you both out of respect." said the eagle-king, motioning for the guards to release Kaguya and Cao Cao. With a snap of his fingers, the air behind the two of them swirled before gradually opening into a large whirlpool of blue energy. "This portal shall take you both to the battlefield. Once you enter, you cannot return."

"Who are you?" asked Kaguya, looking back at the eagle-king.

"I am Algol, the King of Heroes," said the eagle-king, settling his head on his hand. "And I have one question for the maiden that was brave enough to stand up to me. It is: must the king be alone in his superiority?"

"I know not the answer," she said, "but I, Ōtsusuki Kaguya, Princess of the Ōtsusuki Clan, will find the answer to your question when next we meet."

Kaguya and Cao Cao walked through the portal, leaving Algol to his thoughts. "Sire," said one of the servant-girls, "was it wise to let them go?"

"Perhaps not," answered Algol, "but they have earned enough of my respect. I can only pray that the Ōtsusuki Princess will have found the answer to my question in the future; for her sake."

…

_**A/N: Again, eagerness has made me submit this chapter prematurely. But hopefully, it is up to par. I wonder who figured out the identity of Naruto's savior and mentor in this chapter? In any case, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

_**Vocabulary: **_

_**None Yet**_

…

_**Cameos/References **_

_**Ōkuni's fate─modified from the Sparta Kick scene from "300".**_


	5. Growth

_**A/N: To those of you who may or may not have noticed, I have decided to bend and retcon Shikamaru's gender in this story. As an experiment, I've asked myself 'what would happen if Shikamaru took after his mother instead of his father?' and thus, Nara Shika was born to take Shikamaru's place. Whether or not she is in the harem is in the air, as is Shino's confirmed gender here ('Shino' is a unisex name).**_

_**Also, 15 reviews on the last chapter? Well, getting better. Seriously, don't be shy people; I only said 'no useless reviews.' You can give a bad review, as long as you have a legitimate concern (i.e. bad spelling, bad grammar, syntax is bad, etc.), but a bad review based on taste is 'useless review' material.**_

_**To those of you who write bad reviews just to hurt people's feelings, I hope that when you die, you are all reincarnated as chickens, which are then ground up into dog and or cat food for the rest of your afterlives. Karma be damned. To everyone else, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

{Play: "Deference for Darkness" by Martin O'Donnell, from "Halo 3: ODST"}

[Uchiha District, a few days later]

The class had to attend a funeral service to six chūnin shinobi that died last night. To a good number of students, they were some of the more beloved teachers. To the Uchiha girl and the rest that knew better, they were a bunch of hypocrites that preached for student equality while kissing her disguised ass and beating up Naruto's. There were even rumors that they were on the take from Council fat-cats that would ask her for 'favors' in the future.

In all honesty, she never really liked their ass-kissing ways, and how they put down or brutally mauled Naruto before they even fought. The former was a necessary evil that she had to put up with to keep Naruto at an arm's length, lest he get caught in the crossfire of her revenge. After all, it was better that she spent much of the time being the target of his hatred, than to risk his life from admitting her own love for him. She couldn't risk it; not at this stage. So she took it with a grin, even though she wanted to tell them all where they could shove their 'compliments.'

The interference and the brutal beating on the other hand, made it all the harder for her to keep up the disguise. Oh how she wanted to sneak into their houses with a rusty kunai, and then gut them while they slept; but common sense stated that it'd be suicide at worst. A shame that she was beaten to the punch, although she was glad that Naruto finally got justice and that the village was short of six corrupt shinobi. Plus, she was actually happy that he found a way to fight her on an even footing without those brown-nosing assholes sabotaging the match in her favor.

Now however, she was watching through binoculars from the rooftops as Naruto walked into a park in the Uchiha district. She'd seen how he defended himself, shortly before he was rescued by that old man. Since then, he'd been going to the ramen stand later because he was being taught martial arts after school by his rescuer.

"Don't get me wrong, Naruto-kun, I like that you're actually getting stronger." she whispered to herself, watching as he sparred with the old man, "But don't think for a second that I'm going to let you have an easy victory."

…

[Kirin Park, Uchiha District]

Naruto and the old man fought with open hands as the former tried his hardest to beat his master under the watchful eyes of the shinobi minder in the bear mask. Every punch he threw out wound up being intercepted and every kick was deflected with ease, while he was starting to tire out from the prolonged sparring match. Fortunately, his form was corrected, and he was taught the proper way to punch and kick; unfortunately, he was having a hard time applying what he learned.

After a few minutes of fruitless fighting, the old man pushed Naruto away with one hand. As Naruto panted, he did not seem even the slightest bit winded. "Why are we going through these spars?" he asked.

"Because your basic fighting skills are severely lacking." answered the old man. This earned him a look of confusion from Naruto. "Although to put it in a way you understand, I suppose it wouldn't be inaccurate to say 'you fight like a sissy.'"

"Hey! I wasn't that bad!"

"Well I was barely able to feel your blows, and it all starts at your footwork," the old man countered, "To be brutally honest, your footwork sucks like hell, which makes it such that you fight even more like a sissy. Without proper footwork, you're not going to die; you're going to look stupid first, then I guarantee you're going to die screaming like a sissy-girl."

"Well how am I supposed to fix my footwork?"

"Normally, I would suggest you learn to dance and go from there," suggested the old man, stroking his beard in thought, "but seeing as you probably won't pick that up, I have another idea to help build your footwork. I'm going to attack you; you must avoid each of my attacks. For every time I hit you, you will be forced to watch as I eat a bowl of your precious ramen in front of you…slowly."

A shiver had shot down Naruto's spine as he heard that last condition. His skin paled as he learned of what would happen if he took a hit. Given how skilled a fighter the old man was, it would be difficult. "Don't worry, I'll start off relatively slowly before increasing in speed. As you get faster, then so will my attacks. When we fix up your footwork, then we'll talk about teaching you some serious moves to get you started. There's no need to teach you anything special regarding technique; the memories you'll be getting from the Soul Swords will form the basis of your own fighting style. The only problem is that without a good foundation, without a strong body to handle complicated maneuvers, all those memories will be useless."

"This had better be worth it." said Naruto, readying himself for the barrage to come.

The old man grinned under his beard. "Oh, I guarantee it. If you manage to keep your footwork, it should show more of an improvement on your fighting style."

…

[Elsewhere in the Uchiha district]

"There's nothing of interest to see," the Uchiha girl said to herself, watching through her binoculars. Naruto was working hard to avoid the punches and kicks aimed in his way; being blindsided quite a few times. "Those assholes did their work well, sabotaging Naruto-kun's footwork beyond repair. Now he's having an even harder time trying to dodge those punches."

"At least he's making progress, isn't he?" asked a voice from the shadows, behind her, "Whatever that old man's doing, it's clear that he's training Naruto-kun the way he should have been trained from the beginning."

"Shouldn't you be back at home, Hinata-chan?" deadpanned the Uchiha girl, without taking her attention away from the training in her binoculars.

At the mention of her name, the speaker walked out from the shadows, revealing it to be none other than Hyūga Hinata with a sheepish look on her face. "How long have you known?" she asked.

The Uchiha girl turned to face Hinata with no small amount of pride. "Since Naruto-kun left you at your mansion. You're good, I just have the advantage of range…but judging from your lack of questions, I can guess you've known my secret for some time."

Hinata turned red at being found out. She pressed her fingers together in that manner that the Uchiha girl had always found adorable. "I've known since two weeks after the start of the first year. Sakura and Ino had been fawning over you so much, and Naruto-kun was so lonely that I wanted to see why they were so focused on you that I used my Byakugan. Imagine my surprise when I found out that you were really a girl."

"Does anyone else know?" asked the Uchiha girl.

"As far as I can tell, I'm the only one that knows," began Hinata, "I have a feeling Kiba and Kira have been too used to your scent to notice, and Shino won't say anything about it so I can't tell. The only question I have for you, Sasuke, is why are you hiding?"

It was a tough question, but a valid one. Sasuke sighed as Hinata didn't look like she was going to leave until she was given a satisfactory answer. "It's been like this for as long as I could remember." she finally began, deciding to trust Hinata, "For some reason, whenever I was in the house, I was allowed to drop my disguise; but whenever I went out, I was forced to have a genjutsu on my body that hid the fact that I am a girl, and was raised like a boy. Funny thing is, I wasn't the only one he did this to, and I found that out when I walked into Itachi's room while he was changing; or rather _she_ was changing."

Hinata's eyes widened with surprise at that revelation. "Y-you mean…"

"Yeah."

"B-but now that your father's dead, I think you'd celebrate." said Hinata, "I mean, if you're free now, then why aren't you going after Naruto-kun more directly?"

"With Itachi on the run?" asked Sasuke, "No, if I do anything direct with Naruto-kun at this point, I'm afraid that she'll use him one day to hurt me. And that's the last thing I want right now. Better that Naruto-kun hates me for being 'Sasuke-teme' than to let him get hurt just by loving me."

It was clear to Hinata that she was not going to budge on the matter. She sighed before she turned to leave. "I won't tell anyone." she said, regarding Sasuke with a sympathetic look. "But you and I both know you can't keep this up forever."

Deciding that she'd said and heard what she needed, Hinata walked away."Hinata," Sasuke called after her, just as she'd neared the stairwell. Hinata paused just to give Sasuke her attention. "It's Setsuka…my real name that is."

Hinata nodded in affirmation before walking down the stairwell. Once she was out of sight, Setsuka found her gaze on the books that were stacked up next to where she lay down to spy on Naruto. She'd checked them out from the library in her Sasuke persona during the two-week vacation in hopes of finding something to give her an edge against Itachi. They were books on battōjutsu, as well as advanced taijutsu forms. If Naruto was going to get stronger, then so was she.

…

[Palace of Souls, before chakra]

Algol slept in his throne; a habit he'd picked up on slow days during his reign as a human king. It had been several years since his encounter with Princess Kaguya, and he'd accomplished much since his takeover of the city he now resided in. It was fortunate that he practically took the house of a small man with delusions of grandeur, for it was a palace fitting for someone with his majesty. However, the rest of the city was a different story altogether, one of which being that the peasantry were being oppressed by soldiers on the payroll of local noblemen. This situation was at the top of his list of reforms to implement, ending with the corrupt soldiers being arrested and fined for every scrap of money to their name as restitutions. The noblemen on the other hand were enslaved before they had their property confiscated and donated to the people. Needless to say, it was the start of him gaining the support of the people.

Next thing on his list would be lazy city guards, some of whom had been taking bribes by the same noblemen he'd enslaved. Algol's solution to that was to fire every single guard guilty of such crimes. After that, he passed a law that made it such that everyone must earn their citizenship by spending at least one year in the armed forces; the city guard included. This would give him a large number of city guards and soldiers within one year, some of whom remained in their respective units since the law was enacted, while also giving him a fresh crop of soldiers when they came of age.

And finally, there were the corrupt and decadent politicians that would rather spend time watching dancers in ostentatious costumes while drinking copious amounts of alcohol. As far as he could tell, many of them had gotten their position by kissing up to the last lord, or by nepotism alone. His solution to that was to sit the most influential voices in the city down with him for a private conversation. After that day, he enslaved the old politicians and seized their remaining assets for various building projects that needed to be done around the city. A good portion of that money was put to use in building an aqueduct for farmers, while the rest was used to build the walls around the city to protect its citizens

Because he put more trustworthy people in power, Algol was able to focus on training his peasant army to conquer the land and protect the city, while still having control over the state of affairs. As of today, he was poised to conquer the entire country of Wa. His conquest had earned him the allegiance of a great many figures, among the most prominent being Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. At this rate, his new nation of Uruk would be large enough to contend with the evil he sensed growing in the world.

And yet, for all his achievements, he could not shake off the nightmares of his past. He'd always come back to the moment where his son Arcturus laid hands on Soul Edge, went mad, and murdered his own mother and Algol's ministers with the evil sword. Even worse, he always wound up reliving the heartbreaking moment where he struggled with and killed Arcturus with his own bare hands. No matter what he did, nothing could ever take away the guilt he felt from that very moment.

"Your majesty." whispered a voice in his ear.

Algol's eyes cracked open, the blurriness fading away as he found the source of the voice to be the hazel eyes one of his female subjects. She was an olive-tanned woman in her mid-thirties with ebon hair that seemed to have aged very well. Battle scars crisscrossing her lean and muscular body not only told a tale of a hard life, but were coincidentally placed in such a manner as to enhance her feline beauty. It also helped that she was a good deal taller than most men, standing a head shorter than he did. "What is it Alecto?"

"An envoy from the Ōtsutsuki clan has come to see you," she answered. "She brings a message from Princess Kaguya."

"Interesting. Is she armed?"

Alecto nodded in the negative. "No, I made sure to check her myself, Sire."

"Then let her in."

After giving her king a bow, Alecto turned to the doorway. "You may enter." she called out.

{Play: "Durga's Theme" by Chiyako Fukuda, from "Asura's Wrath"}

Walking in from the end of the hallway was a white-haired woman in her late-twenties. She wore snowy robes that hid her lithe figure, but it was clear to Algol's appraising eye that she was not a person that would be seen on the field of battle. As she walked down the lane past his royal guard, her features became clearer. Softened features spoke of a gentle nature, but even he knew that looks could be deceiving; she was petite, but her steps had the grace of a trained fighter. Had her features been sharper, Algol would have mistaken her for Kaguya herself.

As the Ōtsutsuki envoy came to a stop in front of the two of them, Alecto made no effort to mask her suspicion of the woman. Even as she got down on her knees to bow before him, she watched the envoy like a hawk. Softened and non-threatening as she appeared, she could very well be an assassin sent over by Kaguya to murder her king. This was because the Ōtsutsuki princess and her king had always fought whenever they crossed paths, and thus she didn't put such a lowly act past her master. "Sire, this is Ōtsutsuki Tsukina, envoy of the Ōtsutsuki clan."

"Alecto has informed me you carry a message from Kaguya," said Algol, resting his head on his hand. "Tell me, what does your princess wish to say?"

"Your majesty." the envoy began, "Princess Kaguya wishes to meet with you at the border between your domains in one week's time for the possibility of a truce."

Whether Algol was surprised at the idea of Kaguya deciding on a truce or not, he did precious little to show it. "I imagine she did not willingly propose this meeting."

"No Sire, it was I that proposed it to her. It wasn't easy, but I was able to convince her to commence negotiations with you."

Algol seemed to consider the idea. He took a few seconds to consider his options before standing up to look at Tsukina. "Very well, I shall hear what she has to say. In the meantime, you are welcome to stay in my palace."

"Thank-you your majesty. I shall relay the news to her."

The envoy stood back up on her feet before bowing respectfully to him. As she turned away to leave, Alecto waited until she was out of earshot before facing her king. The way he looked back at her seemed to indicate that he knew she had something to say, and was waiting for her to share her thoughts. "Sire, surely you're not actually thinking of going?" she asked, "You and the Ōtsutsuki Princess have been enemies since the day you let her go."

"I am well aware of the risks Alecto." Algol said, "I even have a clear idea as to why she wants this truce so badly, and so it is an opportunity for us to speak as rulers. But I am not so foolish as to believe that she won't take advantage of these negotiations for an attempt at my life, which is why I shall leave it to you to select the guards in our retinue for the meeting."

"But…"

"Fear not," Algol reassured, "With any luck, you shall not lose another ruler like you did in Themyscira. I only pray that Kaguya will not turn it into a repeat of the Ninth Labor."

Alecto recoiled slightly after the mention of the 'Ninth Labor'. Algol was not there personally, but he knew from her memories of how painful it was. She lost her queen Hippolyta to the hero she idolized, all because of a rumor that caused a deadly miscommunication. After a moment's silence, Alecto had another thought on her mind. "But what of the envoy?"

"I will show her around until you can find someone to watch her." answered Algol, as if it were the simplest solution in the world. "Unless you'd like to be the one watching her, whilst I prepare the security detail?"

"Pardon my presumption, milord. But it would be unseemly for the king to be seen alone with a foreign envoy." Alecto bowed respectfully before her king. "I shall see for myself if she can be trusted, your majesty."

…

{Play: "My Town" by Hollywood Undead}

[Konoha Ninja Academy, two weeks later]

Looks of utter shock were fired in Naruto's direction as the students of the academy took stock of his appearance. At first it seemed subtle, but Naruto seemed to be getting leaner as time went by. It wasn't to the point of being gaunt, but more like whatever fat he had was being replaced by corded muscle. Two weeks ago, Naruto had a softer appearance; now he seemed a lot healthier.

The rumor mill said that he'd been getting specialized tutoring in taijutsu by an old man, and that Naruto was seen training with him in the Uchiha District. The results of that training made it such that he had a hardened look about him. And yet, there was this ray of hope that he would be taken down a notch when one considered the opponent standing in front of him.

Dressed in a medium amber fur-lined hoodie was a girl with the Inuzuka clan's trademark red fang-marks on her cheeks. Her long, disheveled black hair cascaded down past her shoulders as she smiled at Naruto with a fanged smile brimming with confidence. Sitting in her zipped-up hoodie and supported by her folded arms was a puppy with spiky white fur and a sadistic grin. Overall, she looked like a more feminine version of Kiba, only dressed in brown. "Well look what we have here, Hime. Naruto-kun looks like he's been through training from hell."

The puppy barked several times in response. "You don't know the half of it." said Naruto, cracking his neck. "It was hell, but it was worth it."

"And I can see that." remarked the Inuzuka girl, looking up and down at Naruto, "Although I'm pretty sure that I can take you on."

"Kira, I would recommend that you let down Dokuhime, unless you want to risk Naruto pounding her into submission." Iruka advised, getting the Inuzuka girl's attention, "Besides, you're not supposed to be fighting with your ninken at this point."

Kira looked down at her dog, and gave her an apologetic smile before she got down on her knees to unzip her hoodie. As the puppy landed softly on the ground, she stood back up. "Sorry girl, rules are rules. Besides, I'm pretty sure I can beat Naruto down no problem."

"You wanna bet on that?"

"There's no bet; it's a certainty." said Kira, turning to face Naruto. As she slipped into the basic academy stance, she watched as he took on the stance he'd been using the past two weeks. Ever since he started using that stance, as well as the moves that came with it, Naruto was able to effortlessly beat down a lot of the civilian-born students. Shinobi-born students on the other hand, particularly those who came from one of the clans, gave him more of a challenge; making him work for victory in the taijutsu spars.

From what she remembered of Naruto's new fighting style, the new stance he used made him much more flexible. It was not as tight and minimized as the stance of a boxer, nor was it as wide and exposed as the stance of a wrestler; it was a mixture of both. Kira needed to be careful if she was going to beat him; especially given the tutoring he was given for the taijutsu spars.

"Hajime!" called out Iruka.

Naruto began the fight by dashing in and landing a few quick jabs, all of which were blocked by Kira very easily before she answered with an unseen left hook to the face. Naruto ducked under the punch, and landed six jabs to her stomach. Kira pushed Naruto away, and kicked him in the chest. It wasn't hard enough that he was on the floor, but she managed to knock him back just enough to recover and get back into her stance.

Kira charged, intent on landing a quick beatdown on Naruto. Naruto charged back, the two of them coming into contact. There were punches and kicks going in until Naruto managed to get a hand-hold on her collar and her thigh. Kira was then thrown to the ground on her back, but Naruto was not finished; he quickly placed one knee on her shoulder, bent her elbow away, and clamped his thighs on her head. "The winner by takedown is Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto released his thighs, and allowed Kira to stand back up. "Was this part of the training you've been going through?" she asked, rotating her shoulder.

"Yeah," answered Naruto, walking with Kira back up to the stands and Dokuhime following, "my sensei told me it was a very old style created by a hero to take on some invincible lion or something. Said it was called 'pank-ray...something,' I don't know…I just can't pronounce it, but he said it suited me."

"Well whatever style it was, I want a rematch one day."

The idea that his elder twin would lose was something that Kiba never thought possible. Sure, Naruto had been curb-stomping a lot of kids in the taijutsu spars so far, but these were civilian-born kids and it was after he got that tutoring from the old man. The fact that he was able to defeat his sister only added to the excitement. Yeah, well get in line Kira-nee, he thought to himself, I wanna fight him myself. And with any luck, I'll take him down before you ever do.

Iruka watched as Naruto helped massage Kira's elbow. He could not help but be impressed with Naruto's progress on the taijutsu end. Whatever he was learning from that old man had also made him rise up from his horrid performance to being, at the moment, one of the mid-level taijutsu specialists in class. Now if only that guy could get Naruto-kun to do better academically.

…

{Play: "Marine Swordsman's Battle Cry" from "One Piece"}

[Border between Wa and Chūgoku, one week later - before chakra]

The wind had breezed through the field of grass, the calming rustle mixing in with the slight whistle. It would have been enjoyable were it not for the fact that Kaguya had a meeting at this very area. The entire week had been spent making preparations should the worst come to pass, and all possibilities were considered.

"Still thinking about it?" asked a voice from behind. Kaguya knew very well that it was Cao Cao. Following him were two other men. One was dressed in white and green, and had a pair of swords holstered at his sides. He was around in his thirties and had the look of a just man, but Kaguya was more than aware of how manipulative of a man Liu Bei was. He was not as strong a fighter or general as Cao Cao was, having taken up the use of dual swords recently out of necessity, but he was a skilled politician that Kaguya needed. When combined with his generals Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, they formed an unbeatable team.

The other man that accompanied Cao Cao was a man dressed in red robes and teal armor. Holstered at his side was a very large saber with a knuckle guard. Like Liu Bei and Cao Cao, this man carried himself with the air of a true leader. Sun Quan, the leader of Wu, was by far the most moral of the generals that Kaguya had on her side, and was one of her best advisors. His leadership had ensured that Algol never gained ground on their side of the border; or at least, they were able to take it back quickly.

"I suppose I'm still worried that it would fall apart at the seams." Kaguya admitted.

"Understandable," said Liu Bei, nodding in understanding, "these negotiations are indeed key to our survival in this world."

"If all else fails, then the four of us have made sure that all possibilities were covered." assured Sun Quan, "But one can never be too cautious; even if the opponent has as much honor as Algol does."

She knew that Sun Quan was right. From Kaguya's own experiences and many border skirmishes she'd seen him take a direct hand in, Algol was a very honorable and noble soul at heart. Under his rule, the lands he conquered flourished under his governance in peacetime. When in war, he ensured that prisoners of war were treated fairly and that no harm came to civilians. And whilst he allowed slavery, he passed laws on fair treatment of slaves which included giving them the opportunity to become citizens from at least one year of paid service in the military.

Indeed, she admired him as a good king, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take advantage of this opportunity to assassinate her. And Kaguya knew that were she in the same position, she wouldn't allow him a chance to do the same. On the other hand, she needed this truce to go smoothly if everyone was going to survive the coming onslaught; Tsukina had done her job in sending the message to Algol. Now it was up to Kaguya to make it work…if only temporarily.

Whatever thoughts she had on mind were cut off when she heard the sound of water being displaced and spun at high speeds. Before her, the air was being disturbed as it opened up a vortex of energy. It eventually opened up wide enough to allow two lines of eight warriors carrying halberds to march out. Each one wore a long, white scarf around their necks, their bodies covered in black armor; but what distinguished these warriors was the fact that they all wore full-faced helmets with an eagle head on top. Kaguya knew these soldiers to be members of the Hawks, Algol's royal guardsmen and elite soldiers chosen from the cream of the crop; each one was chosen for their undying loyalty, their discipline, and their unparalleled skills as fighters.

As the hawks turned to face each other, three men walked out of the portal, the first of whom was a man in black and gold armor. A red cape with a high collar, and a purple tail billowed behind him and gave him an overall demonic appearance. Sheathed at his side was a tsurugi-pattern sword that seemed to emanate a vile purple aura. This was Oda Nobunaga, one of Algol's most trusted generals, and officially Cao Cao's rival.

Another man in golden armor walked out with a sansetsukon holstered at the small of his back. He had a very skinny, ape-like appearance, which had undoubtedly earned him the nickname of 'monkey.' There was a kind of cunning in his eyes that made it clear that he was a very conniving fellow; one that needed to be coaxed into action. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was more of a politician than he was a warrior, but Kaguya knew full well not to underestimate his tactical acumen.

The next man to walk out of the portal was a husky man in blue armor, carrying a spear with a large container on top. He already seemed intimidating enough, but Kaguya knew full well that deep inside that heavyset body was a patience that could last for months, if not years. Tokugawa Ieyasu gave her the impression of a tanuki with his thick body, and the way he seemed to be plotting mischief in his eyes.

The next group to leave the portal consisted of four women in women white, three of whom were armed, carried themselves as professional fighters, and dressed very minimally. Of the female guards, one that stood out was a very tall and strong woman with an olive tan. She had the look of a ferocious tiger that was as beautiful as she was deadly, a fact that was helped by the battle scars that covered her body. At her side was a short sword, but she carried a long spear in one hand with a leaf-shaped blade and a butt-spike and a large, round shield in the other. The only sensibly-dressed woman was none other than Tsukina herself, much to Kaguya's relief.

And finally, floating out of the portal in his bird-themed armor was the guest of honor himself. As Algol hovered towards Kaguya, his generals and his guards tailing him and Tsukina by his side. No matter how many times she saw him, she could not help but feel her knees weakening in his presence. Once he came to a stop in front of her, everyone stopped with him. "So, Kaguya, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

…

**_A/N: CLIFFHANGER TIME! [cue evil laugh] Hoo-boy this was a long chapter. There will be more Naruto-action in the future, but first comes the time skip. I wonder though…what are Algol and Kaguya going to be talking about? And also, Setsuka taking up battōjutsu…I wonder what this means…_**

**_…_**

**_Vocabulary:_**

**_Alecto━the name of one of Algol's Amazon Brigade. Her name means 'unceasing', and is also the name of a Fury._**

**_Uruk━a city in Mesopotamia located in what is now Iraq, and was the capital of Babylonia. It is also the place from which Gilgamesh once ruled._**

**_Themyscira━the land of the Amazons; some people believe it was in Turkey, fairly close to Troy (which explained why the Amazons were able to reinforce Troy in the Trojan War so quickly)._**

**_Battōjutsu━this is the Japanese art of drawing the sword, cutting the enemy, and then resheathing in one go. Used interchangeably with Iaijutsu._**

**_Dokuhime━this is the name of Kira's ninken, her name means 'poison princess', and is written as "毒姫"_**

**_Chūgoku━written as "中國" this is the Japanese way of saying 'China.'_**

**_…_**

**_Cameos/References_**

**_Country of Wa━in olden days, Japan was once known as Wa no Kuni…something that Eiichiro Oda has taken advantage of when naming the homeland of Samurai Ryūma. People in the English dub know it as Wano Country._**

**_Ninth Labor━Algol refers to the Twelve Labors of Heracles (you may know him as Hercules). The Ninth Labor was a task where Heracles was ordered to get the girdle of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta. As soon as he landed on the land of the Amazons, Hippolyta, being the Heracles fangirl that she was, pretty much boarded his ship and was willing to give him the girdle without any trouble. It's not clear what exactly happened, but Hippolyta wound up dead, Heracles escaped with the girdle, Ninth Labor complete._**

**_Naruto's new style━like Algol, Naruto's going to pick up on the ancient art of Pankration, which is pretty much a very violent Greek MMA (and quite possibly the first MMA style ever). It was said to have been invented by Heracles for the first of his Twelve Labors, which was to kill the Nemean Lion._**


	6. Rise of the King

_**A/N: This is disappointing...6 reviews? And I said to not be shy, though I suppose I'm to blame. Anyway, I heard pray tell that not a lot of you were sold on me splitting the story. Don't worry, it's not that I've dropped that part of the story…we're just not going to hear from Algol and Kaguya as often, which means I will leave it to you lovely ladies and gentlemen to guess as to how their negotiations went in the last chapter. Do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

{Play: "This Will Be the Day" by Jeff Williams, from "RWBY, Volume 1"}

[Uchiha District, two years later]

The sound of weapons clashing could be heard as master and student sparred. In Naruto's hands, he carried two short but heavy swords; one made of a blue crystal, the other with red. The two blades were formed after he had finally learned how to summon both Soul Calibur and Soul Edge for his own use. The old man on the other hand wielded the longsword he had come to town with, seamlessly switching between one-handed and two-handed grips. The two of them were locked in a duel that would review what the apprentice had learned.

It took one year of fast-paced footwork exercises, punishing strength and endurance training, tiring tactics lessons, and a strict adherence to proper form for the old man to teach Naruto how to summon both swords. After that, he was taught to use a variety of weapons beginning with the quarterstaff and ending with the dual kōdachi.

After getting knocked back with a kick, Naruto managed to slow his trajectory to a halt before winding up his upper body. A single kick was all it took for Naruto to become a spinning arrow, the blades of both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur serving as the arrow head. The old man simply stepped aside, and grabbed Naruto by the back of his collar as he passed by. He wound up and threw Naruto to the ground. Before Naruto could get back up, he found the tip of the old man's blade to his neck.

"Not bad. I didn't think you'd use the dual-sword style." said the old man, with a smile under his beard. "You seem to be at your best while using the longsword or the two-handed sword."

"Yeah, well I wanted to try out a new style," said Naruto, accepting the hand that was offered to him. "Looks like I've still a long ways to go."

"How are you handling the memories?"

"It's weird," Naruto began, trying to find the right words to describe the sensation, "it's like whenever I pick up any weapon, I feel like I've been using it all my life and you still beat me no matter which one I pick up."

The old man nodded in understanding. "It is one thing to remember using a particular weapon well, it's another to use that weapon well."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever noticed that martial artists can defeat you even after years without fighting?" asked the old man, "The secret behind that is a miracle known as 'muscle memory,' where repeating the same action again and again results in your body being unable to forget how to do it. Those martial artists got to where they are now by doing the same drills for years until their bodies could never forget them."

"So what you're saying is that those memories can help my training, but I have to put in the work myself to make them count."

"Exactly."

Naruto nodded to himself. "Makes sense. I mean I barely learned how to use two swords at once, so I probably need to train some more with them."

"If that's the case, then I would recommend that you train with a sword of equal size and weight in each hand. That should build up the muscle memory in your arms, while also strengthening your blows for your two-handed swordplay."

"Right." Naruto said. As he was about to leave, he paused to face-palm himself as he had just remembered something important. Naruto turned to face the old man. "I forgot, you think you can show up after school tomorrow? It's my final exam."

"I'll try my hardest to be there," answered the old man. "After all, what teacher doesn't want to see the fruits of his labor? Besides, I wish to meet this 'Iruka-sensei' of yours before I leave."

Naruto's eyes had widened in surprise. "You're not going to be teaching me anymore?"

"There wasn't much I could teach you to begin with," answered the old man, "I merely corrected your form and sparred with you. The reason I didn't teach you anything more was because your memories are already teaching the skills you need to fight for your path to kingship." Naruto had a downcast expression on his face. "Worry not; I may not be teaching you anymore, but you can always come to me for advice. But ultimately, the best person to teach you to fight is yourself."

"Will I ever see you again?"

The old man flipped a coin that Naruto caught with one hand. As he inspected it, he could tell it was an old coin from the amount of wear on it; and yet, it didn't seem to diminish its value. It was a round coin with a golden rim. Socketed in the center of the coin was a spherical green jewel with rings radiating away from it. "I will always be in Astral Chaos. As I answer to no king, I will never be one of your subjects, and so you cannot summon me with the Soul swords. However, this coin has been enchanted to allow you to summon me at the expense of most of your chakra; use it wisely."

This was an expensive gift. Whatever it is that the old man did to make it so that it could use his chakra, it was likely very taxing on him. "Think of it as a graduation present rolled into one."

Naruto took the coin gratefully, and put it in his pocket. "I will treasure it. But do you have a name?"

A half-smile had graced the old man's bearded features. "I've been alone for so long that I've forgotten my name. But you can call me Edge Master."

With his hand on his chin, Naruto began to think carefully. He soon nodded in agreement. "Seems simple enough. Though I'll just call you Hasaki-sensei."

…

[Elsewhere]

Kurama could not help but grin sinisterly. "That old fool," she said to herself, "All that mongrel has done so far is make me stronger. 'Edge Master?' Ha! More like 'Dull Master!'"

"I really wouldn't underestimate the Edge Master, milady." Elysium cautioned, as she knelt before her lady.

"You think I'm not aware of those memories?" challenged Kurama, sneaking a downward glance at Elysium.

"I don't mean to be presumptuous, but barring the Rabbit-Goddess, the Edge Master is known to be the Hero-King's greatest rival."

"Oh Elysium, ye of little faith." teased Kurama, turning her gaze to Inferno as she slouched in her seat. "And what about you? You've been quiet all this time."

Whether it was for the sake of defiance or he was contemplating his words carefully, Elysium could not tell. But what she did know was that her brother sword was testing their lady's patience for every second he remained silent. "It won't matter to me," he finally said, "Challenge Edge Master at your own peril. Your death will grant me the opportunity to take over the boy."

It was obvious from the fierce grin on her face that Kurama was not at all pleased by Inferno's snippy behavior. But she decided to remain silent; if only temporarily. She would defeat that mongrel Naruto, and prove that she was worthy of being queen.

…

{Play: "PHANTASMAGORIA" by Junichi Nakatsuru, from "Soul Calibur IV"}

[Konoha Ninja Academy, the next day]

It was the day of the final exams, and students were muttering to themselves about whether or not they would be able to pass; some were confident, others were nervous wrecks. Sasuke was in the former category while Naruto bordered on the latter. He did manage to get in practice for the jutsu he was weakest in, but the problem was that it was last-minute practice. Notes scribbled on a few scraps of paper he found pointed him in the right direction, and he was beginning to make the Bunshin no Jutsu work…he could only hope that it would be enough to pass.

"Alright everyone, here's the drill," Iruka announced, getting all the students' attention, "First we're going outside to test you on your throwing ability, then we'll do taijutsu. After that, we're going back inside so that you can show us your Henge no Jutsu and Bunshin no Jutsu. Now let's all head on out!"

As the graduating hopefuls were corralled out of the classroom, Naruto saw that everyone was making way for him and Sasuke. Ever since he had been taken under Edge Master's wing, he began to excel in combat to the point that he was equal to Sasuke as far as throwing and taijutsu was concerned. Many argued that Sasuke would always be better than him in all aspects, but a good number of the student body that knew better had begged to differ.

"Here's how this part of the test works," began Mizuki, indicating the boxes that were placed on a stand. "You each have to throw ten shuriken and kunai at that target over here." He indicated towards a human-shaped target board with rings radiating from the head, neck, shoulders, and the chest. It was supported by tightly-packed bundles of hay, and a metal plate. "Each part of the body is worth a certain amount of points; the closer to the center of each target, the more points you score. You can score up to 100 points with shuriken and kunai, for a full total of 200; you need a total of 100 points to pass this part of the exam."

Naruto sat on the stands watching as the students were called down from the stands one at a time, throwing their kunai and shuriken. Thanks to his tutelage under Edge Master, he could tell the civilians from the shinobi-born kids by the way they threw. A civilian-born student was usually a lot more cautious, throwing their kunai and shuriken with shakier movements as they hesitated under the pressure. There were few exceptions, but he had a sneaking suspicion that those students wouldn't do so well; Sakura was one of the exceptions, throwing her kunai and shuriken at the groin, and then continuing to focus her throws at the center mass

Shinobi-born students on the other hand tended to be braver, their throws being a lot steadier, stronger, and more accurate. Whether they were throwing their kunai and shuriken quickly at the center mass, or deliberately aiming for the central targets for full points, their shots were confident. That, and they tended to be more creative: for example, Sasuke threw every shuriken and kunai at the target simultaneously. They were thrown in such a manner that they curved in midair, hitting dead-center at all the major target zones in seemingly impossible angles for a perfect score.

Another example was when Hinata let loose a flurry of shuriken and kunai at various points on the target, few of which hit the major targets. This would have cost her points were it not for the fact that the shuriken and kunai were embedded in areas that contained very deadly tenketsu points, earning her a bonus that more than compensated for scoring low points.

The most impressive display however was when Kiba and Kira both double-teamed on the target. Their movements were a dance that was made deadlier by the synchronized storm of blades being fired at high speeds. By the time the dance was over, the target was covered in kunai and shuriken, guaranteeing a kill…or overkill as the case was.

"Naruto, you're up!" Iruka called.

Naruto walked down the steps of the bleachers until he came to a stop in front of the stand. Picking up a kunai, he tossed the weapon into the air several times to test its weight and balance; not bad for a knife that began life as a gardening trowel. But as he put the kunai down, Naruto had other ideas. "Iruka-sensei, is okay if I throw something else?"

That question had come at Iruka from out of the blue. "What could you throw other than kunai and shuriken?"

In response to Iruka's question Naruto took off the jacket of his tracksuit before lifting his arm and flexing his bicep, sending commands to the humerus. He could feel the bone beginning to sprout from his elbow and a new humerus was being cloned under his skin. This formed a bump that soon parted explosively to give way to the growing bone, much to the horror of everyone watching it. As soon as the bone was almost as long as his own humerus, he grabbed onto it just in time for it to have detached normally and pulling it away as the hole in his elbow patched itself up. "Man that hurts whenever I do that."

"THEN WHY DO YOU DO IT?!" shouted Iruka, shaking off his disgust at what he'd just seen to be angry at Naruto's idiocy.

Naruto had a mischievous grin on his face. "So I can do something like this." A single command from his brain to the bone held in his hand had commanded it to lengthen. As that command came through, he channeled the memories of one particular person. A mighty warrior who wielded a demonic red spear that caused spikes to grow in the target's circulatory system upon causing a wound with it. It was also rumored to be a spear that, when thrown, never missed its target.

After getting enough of the memory through his head, the humerus had been shaped into a short spear with an eye looking around in the head. Naruto turned to face Iruka with the javelin's yellow eye looking at him. "You mind moving the target across the field?"

Deciding to humor Naruto for a moment, Iruka quickly pushed the target backwards until it was at a far enough distance away before walking back to Naruto. "How many points will it earn me if I hit that target at this distance?"

"If you can hit dead-center in one of the designated kill zones, then it's an automatic pass. Other than that, the score is multiplied by ten."

Naruto smirked. He turned to face the target, reeled back, and threw the spear. As it traveled through the air, the students watched as the javelin arced and penetrated the target through the central target in the head. Much to the surprise of everyone watching, the spear passed through the hay, only slowing to a stop after piercing halfway through the metal plate. A single mental command from Naruto had caused the spear to crumble away into dust that scattered to the winds.

As Naruto walked back up the stands, he had garnered a lot of looks his way. Many were trembling in fear at what they'd just seen him do. The taijutsu spars that came afterward had gone fairly smoothly; a good number of the civilian-born students managed to show that they could handle themselves in a fight, but most lost when faced off against shinobi-born students. The clan heirs on the other hand tended to have landslide victories against most of the other students. The most interesting spar was yet another matchup between Naruto and Sasuke. Ever since the former had started using that strange stance of his, the two of them had been attempting to outdo each other in the spars to the point that Naruto was catching up to Sasuke in the win/loss ratio. Now, the two of them were almost dead even with Sasuke in the lead. The latest match, while still very exciting by the students' standards, ended in yet another draw.

When the time came for the jutsu portion of the exam, students walked up to the stand, performing the Henge no Jutsu. Passing marks were determined by attention to detail, with bonus points going to students that could change their voice to be accurate. The easiest subject for the Henge no Jutsu was none other than Iruka. So far, a large number of students walked up and were able to transform into Iruka, with a varying number of differences, but there was the odd student or two that transformed into someone else.

"Naruto, you're up." Naruto walked up to the podium, and flew through the hand seals for the Henge no Jutsu. When the smoke cleared, he transformed into a tall man in his forties with avian features and feathered white hair that stood with his arms folded. The amount of lean muscle rippling across the man's half-naked body, along with the regal glare in his golden eyes, instilled a feeling of inadequacy into every man and boy in the classroom. The girls on the other hand had perverted fantasies in their minds; especially the Sasuke fangirls who could not decide whether they wanted Sasuke, or this god of a man that could qualify as a DILF.

Iruka was the first to shake off his trepidation to regain control. "GET SERIOUS YOU DUNCE!"

"Silence, you cur!" snapped Naruto, his voice taking on a flange and a manly tone that startled Iruka back into his seat. "You dare speak to a king in this manner? Although if this form does not convince you…"

His hands quickly flew through the seals quickly, causing another poof of smoke. In place of the forty-year-old man, was a woman in her prime and of the same racial profile. Her muscular curves had been softened ever so slightly, and one arm had covered her generous assets. Overall, she carried herself like a barbarian queen as she stared down at Iruka with an intimidating and seductive expression. She sauntered towards Iruka, bending forward on his desk to give him a good look at her cleavage, and Mizuki a good look at her firm ass. "Then perhaps this shall affirm my right to rule as queen."

Iruka was frozen; partially out of fear that this woman would eat him alive, but also from the large amount of blood gushing from his nose at the size of her breasts. Once the jutsu was dispelled, Naruto walked back up the stands feeling proud of himself. Many of the students wondered exactly where Naruto got the idea for the two godlike people he transformed into.

After a few minutes to recover, the exams came the Bunshin no Jutsu portion of the test. Everyone performed the required hand-seals, with varying results; with the exception of a few creative students such as Shino creating a clone made out of insects, every other student simply created the minimum of two functional clones. Naruto reminded himself of the amount of practice that went into the Jutsu, and felt confident as he took to the stand. After performing the correct hand seal sequence, Naruto pumped every ounce of chakra he had into the Jutsu while applying the chakra control exercises that he had to learn in order to keep up with Edge Master. After the Jutsu was complete, he hazarded a glance around to see that the entire stage was filled with clones that were repeating every action he was making, much to the surprise of everyone else.

Naruto turned to face Iruka who was speechless at the sight. "Uh, Iruka-sensei, do I pass now?"

...

[Konoha Ninja Academy front yard, after class]

The murmur of people out on the front yard could be heard as parents waited expectantly for their children to come on out. While one particular student was not well-liked among the gathering of parents, nobody dared to voice their distaste in front of the the old swordsman sitting on the tree roots. This was because word traveled quickly throughout the village about what he did, as well as the fact that he voluntarily mentored the "demon-brat." Speaking ill of his disciple would invite death upon them, just like the six Chūnin teachers he killed.

The doors opened, allowing a stampede of children to run out the door to meet their parents. If they didn't have parents, which was the case with some of the clan children, they were instead met by their own servants. Others simply went home, as they were orphans with no family. Either way, the sounds of celebration could be heard.

"Look daddy! I passed!"

"Congratulations, son!"

"I finally got my hitai-ate!"

"My daughter has finally grown up!"

{Play: "CONFESSION" by Junichi Nakatsuru, from "Soul Calibur IV"}

When Naruto walked out of the classroom, he had a beatific grin on his face. With the hitai-ate being held in his hand, he had more than enough reason to celebrate. "Hasaki-sensei! I passed! I'm finally a ninja!"

Most of the parents that heard Naruto's declaration could only look on in disbelief and terror at the very idea. There was no way the "demon-brat" could have passed, and yet the look on Mizuk's face told them that they weren't imagining things. Any hope for security in the future was quashed the second the teacher gave a nod that told them it was true.

Edge Master sat up and walked to meet Naruto halfway with a grin in his beard. "Congratulations, Naruto. You've done well."

"I can only credit his success to you," said a teacher with a scar across the bridge of his nose. "If you weren't here to make sure Naruto had some discipline in his life, I would've had doubts for his future. I suppose I should thank you, Mr…"

"I have no name, but you can call me Edge Master," answered the swordmaster. "so you must be the famous Iruka-sensei I've heard so much about. You've done well, considering how many students I've seen passing your class."

Iruka scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by the level of praise he was getting. Edge Master gave him the impression of a grandpa that could kick his ass five ways from Sunday, and so the praise had even more of an effect. "Yeah well, I feel I could've done better. If only there weren't so many fangirls in the class the past few years."

Naruto snorted. If one were to listen carefully, they could hear him say, "Yeah, tell me about it."

"Whatever hardships fly your way are challenges that test your skill as a teacher," Edge Master acknowledged, "Heavens forbid, I've had my fair share of challenges with students I've had in the past."

"Perhaps we can talk about it in the future?"

"I'm sorry, but today is my last day in town." replied Edge Master, his gaze hardening slightly, "A word of advice though; keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

Iruka had no idea what the Edge Master was talking about until he noted that the old man was indicating someone behind him with his eyes. He turned around, and saw Mizuki chatting away pleasantly with several parents. Looking back at the old man, Iruka saw that Edge Master was giving him a nod of affirmation. Whatever it was that the swordmaster was implying, he would take with a grain of salt; but he would beware of Mizuki all the same.

Satisfied with his parting words for Iruka, Edge Master's gaze had softened as he turned his attention back to Naruto. "You take care of yourself."

He stood up and left, with Naruto looking on. The boy knew it would not be goodbye forever.

…

[Somewhere in Konoha, night]

A shadow stole through the night with a large object tucked away under its arm. The plan had failed, and now the only way to get out of this plot alive would be now. It was a desperate move, having set off a false terrorist attack, but it needed to be done. It was the perfect distraction, causing all the shinobi of the village to rally together to find the terrorist responsible for the attack and minimize the damage. Fortunately, the shadow managed to procure Kumogakure-style kunai and swords, and was able to pin the blame on them. It then snuck around in the Hokage's office to find the item it was looking for; it was a massive scroll that contained all the forbidden jutsu known to Konoha. All that needed to be done now was to…

"Going somewhere?" asked a voice that startled the shadow. It silently seethed as it froze in place, as the voice belonged to a person it hated above all else. "Hasaki-sensei was right. You really couldn't be trusted, Mizuki-sensei…or should I say, Mizuki-_teme_?"

The moonlight cut through the trees, revealing Uzumaki Naruto with the hitai-ate he just earned on his forehead. He was leaning against a tree with his arms folded across his chest. As he kicked off from the tree, Mizuki saw that he was not alone, as Iruka was also in the area. "I really didn't want to believe what the old man told me about you, but it looks like he was right on the money." he said, "How could you, Mizuki? After all this time?"

Mizuki scoffed as the moonlight revealed his form. He wore a bandana over his head, and holstered on his back were a pair of large four-point shuriken. "It was pretty easy. All I needed to do was to sabotage the brat's education, then play the part of the sympathetic teacher to get him to do my dirty work, and it would've been smooth sailing from there. What I didn't count on was that decrepit old geezer teaching him properly, thus derailing my plan. If I'd known how much of a problem he'd posed, I would've killed him and pinned his death on Naruto."

"That wouldn't have worked anyway," said Naruto, as he closed in on Mizuki with Iruka, "Hasaki-sensei is such a good fighter that he even makes Hokage-jiji and a lot of other shinobi look like a joke, so what makes you think **_you_** have a chance?"

{Play: "Gluttony Fang" by Daisuke Ishiwatari, from "Blazblue}

Mizuki quickly drew one of the shuriken from his back, throwing one at Naruto before rushing Iruka with a straight kick. Once the kick landed, Iruka was sent flying into a tree before he was pinned to it with a storm of shuriken and kunai. A few seconds went by before Iruka burst into a puff of smoke, revealing himself to be a log as Mizuki quickly turned to uppercut Iruka in the stomach before smashing his face into his knee. As soon as Iruka hit the ground, Mizuki had to jump aside at the last minute before the giant shuriken veered past his face. "Oh, I think I'll have a better chance when I kill the student."

"No way, I still have to pay you back for being such a bad teacher," growled Naruto, standing back up to conjure forth a massive two-handed sword made of blue and red crystals and a large, yellow eye that was embedded in the strong, "All those times you were nice to me, and it turns out to be lies."

"Says the boy that's been lied to all his life." Mizuki snapped back, angry at the way Naruto was looking down on him. "Seriously though, do you want to know why people hate you so much?"

Once Iruka heard that, he was about to grab Mizuki by the ankle before he was quickly stomped on his head, putting enough force to stop him from doing anything more than to mumble in desperation.

There was no change in Naruto's expression of rage and disgust. "I suppose it can't be any worse than your lies. Go ahead; tell me the truth for once."

Mizuki grinned. He would be able to wipe that look of superiority off the brat's face. "Twelve years ago, the Kyūbi no Yoko had attacked the village. And on that night, there was a law that was passed."

At this, Iruka began to struggle even further, desperate to try and shut Mizuki up. His answer was to press down harder on Iruka's head. "And what pray tell is that law?" asked Naruto, gripping the hilt of his sword tighter.

"That nobody is to tell you that you're the Kyūbi no Yoko." screamed Mizuki, quickly drawing the second shuriken while kicking off from Iruka's head, leaving the teacher disoriented enough to watch helplessly. As he moved close enough to Naruto, Mizuki swung the blade diagonally hoping to bisect the boy only to watch helplessly as the massive sword in his hands swung upwards. The second their weapons met, the greatsword knocked away shuriken and Mizuki's hand before Naruto brought the blade back down twice. The counterattack would have killed Mizuki were it not for the fact that the traitorous shinobi had managed to change the trajectory of his fall in such a manner that instead of being killed in one shot, he was now nursing the stump of an arm.

"Not too bad," Mizuki hissed, trying to assure himself of his near-death experience. "Just a flesh wound."

"You thought that would break me? You thought I would just crumple to the ground and cry?" asked Naruto, earning an evil glare from Mizuki, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, future king of this land if not the world! And kings don't break easily!"

Mizuki cackled. Whether it was brought upon by blood loss or pain, Naruto had no idea. What he did know was that it was not a good sign. "Oh, you'll break." he snarled, producing a syringe containing a glowing green fluid from his back pocket, "I'll see to it that every bone in your body is ground to dust, fox!"

Naruto waited expectantly as Mizuki jabbed the syringe into his stump, the plunger pumping the green fluid into his blood vessels. He produced another syringe, and injected more of the green fluid into his body. After a few seconds, Mizuki writhed in pain before a new arm had sprouted from the stump; muscles began exploding in size, and he took on the appearance of a humanoid tiger with stripes and all. "Like my new form?" taunted Mizuki, flexing his clawed hands, "Orochimaru-sama gave me those syringes as…incentive to come work for him. And with this power, I will see to it that you will never reign Kyūbi no Yoko!"

The Mizuki-tiger flexed all his muscles, kneeling in a running position with one knee and hand forward, the latter of which touching the ground. Naruto switched his grip with his massive sword, holding it behind with one hand with the other in front while minimizing his profile. "Come and get me, bastard!" Naruto challenged, "I'll end this fight quickly, and make sure you won't hurt anyone ever again!"

As Iruka looked on in trepidation, he could feel the tension between the two fighters. He dared not to the fight in any way, or else he'd get cleaved in two by Naruto's greatsword, or getting mauled by Mizuki's claws. As he took one deep breath in anticipation, he knew one thing for sure: either way, the fight would end quickly.

Mizuki-tiger leaped through the air, intent on clawing Naruto to death as he charged, ducked under a swipe and answered with a tackle before following through with a punch to the face. Naruto was not done yet, as he smashed the face of his sword into Mizuki's back and quickly using both the momentum of Mizuki's stumble and his own reflexes to grab the traitorous chūnin by the neck, slam him into the floor, and then plant the tip of his sword through his torso and into the ground quickly. With one hand still on the hilt, Naruto raised his hand to the sky, channeling enough chakra into the sword to cause Mizuki to explode with a scream as he shot it back down.

{Play: "Lord of Terror" from "Soul Calibur V"}

Once the dust had settled, Iruka looked on at Naruto in amazement as he strode towards him. "You okay, Iruka-sensei?"

He honestly didn't know what to think. The boy was able to take on, and kill a chūnin using what was assumed to be a bloodline. At first, when he heard that Naruto was going to become some kind of king one day, he thought the boy was joking; arrogant even. And yet, with all the power and force of will he'd seen him display thus far, Iruka had little doubt that maybe…just maybe, Naruto may be able to pull it off. The only question he had on his mind was, what would the world be like when Naruto becomes king?

…

_**A/N: Hoo, this is the longest chapter thus far for this story. Anyway, this concludes Naruto's mentoring and education. And for the record, Naruto's best styles by default would be Mitsurugi, Siegfried, and Nightmare; but he'll eventually learn to channel and master other styles such as Cervantes (more likely in the future), Astaroth, Ivy, and even Alpha-Patroklos until he finally learns to use Algol's style for everything.**_

_**And to reiterate what I said before, I will let you ladies and gentlemen of the audience guess on Algol and Kaguya's negotiations. I already have plans for the outcome, but I would love to hear how you think they went.**_

_**Anyway, hopefully I haven't disappointed this time with the faster pace, and I get more than 6 reviews. So please read and review, would you kindly?**_

_**…**_

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Humerus─pretty well-known as the 'funny bone.' This is the part of the arm where your biceps, deltoids, and triceps muscles are attached, which makes up your shoulder. It is also one of the bones that makes up your elbow.**_

_**…**_

_**Styles used:**_

_**Cervantes (he will get better at it)**_

_**Siegfried/Nightmare (will be his main style for now)**_

_**…**_

_**Cameos/References**_

_**"Just a flesh wound"─"Monty Python and the Holy Grail"**_


	7. Encounters

_**A/N: I shall breathe a sigh of relief, as a new chapter has come out…with an XXX Yuri scene. Do read and review, would you kindly?**_

* * *

{Play: "Afternoon of Konoha" by Toshiro Masuda, from "Naruto"}

[Konoha Ninja Academy, the next day]

Team assignments were up for the day as newly-minted genin talked amongst themselves quietly.

"I wonder what team I'm going to be in."

"I hope I don't get to join in with the Dead Last."

"Please, let it be Sasuke-kun…let it be Sasuke-kun…"

"Dead Last? Have you been living under a rock?"

"Yeah, can a Dead Last kill Mizuki-sensei?"

While the subjects varied, a major topic of their whispering was Uzumaki Naruto, and what they'd heard he did to Mizuki…of which, Setsuka inwardly felt the man deserved. Of the many ass-kissers she had to put up with, Mizuki's level of brown-nosing was by far the worst she had to deal with. He was one of the teachers that kept up the illusion of impartiality, with a small difference: the other teachers at least had the decency to be silently open about their hatred of Naruto, but Mizuki had the _nerve_ to feign kindness. She knew from the look in his eyes that he had ill intentions for Naruto; she just didn't know when he would do whatever it was he planned to do to him. Had he gone on with his plan and she found out first, she would've killed him herself and saved Naruto the trouble.

No matter how much she tried, it tortured her to no end that she was forced to keep Naruto at arm's length even though her heart was practically begging her to drop the disguise and the lies. It felt like it would betray her any second now, shortening her tolerance for the screaming and cooing fan girls that surrounded them both, and threatening to make her reveal the truth with an explosive anger. In all honesty, Setsuka wanted nothing more than to pull him out of sight and into her arms, allowing all the pain of his past flow into her heart and her lips. If fate allowed it, she would even have his hot, sweaty and addicting love flooding her until the wedding bells rang and she could see their children running around.

Sadly, as much as she hated her father for his corrupt practices and sexist beliefs, he was right about one thing: duty must come first. After what Itachi (her real name being Itsuki) did, Setsuka felt obligated to avenge the clan; if only for certain members of her kinsmen. According to the bastard's journal, the entire clan was in on her and Itachi's secret identities, and Fūgaku made them swear on pain of death to never reveal the secret. Only a handful of clansmen that included Shīsui-nii and their mother accepted them in and out of the disguise enough that they were allowed to walk around them as girls. Those clan members were also the same people that were sincerely nice to Naruto whenever he ran into the district to hide after a particularly funny prank.

Duty aside, she also reminded herself that she did it for Naruto's safety. She wasn't kidding around when she told Hinata that she feared he would be used to hurt her. Setsuka had been gradually nursing a crush on him ever since the day he ran to the Uchiha District to hide after stealing all the Hyūga men's clothes and replacing them with women's clothes a couple of years or so before everything went to hell. She found herself thinking of him quite often, once in a while leaving the district in her true form to join him on some of his more elaborate pranks. Whether he forgot to do so or he just didn't care, Naruto never once asked for her name. In hindsight it was better this way; she had no idea if, much less how much Itachi knew, but she wasn't taking any chances. The day she killed her sister would be the day she would come out in the open for Naruto, and fix whatever damage her inaction had caused; however long it took.

She also knew that driving him too far away would make the damage irreparable, which was why her relationship with Naruto was getting better. Now their rivalry had taken on a slightly friendlier tone after Setsuka started acknowledging him as a worthy opponent. With all the ass-kissers dead, and pretty much punished for their actions against Naruto, she was allowed to be a bit more open. As much as she appreciated Hinata's work in pulling them closer together, she still needed to keep him him at a far-enough distance away that Itsuki couldn't use him.

Whatever thoughts were running through Setsuka's mind were cut short as soon as Iruka walked into the room with a neck cast. It was no surprise that the teacher was on the short end of the stick as he was beaten up by Mizuki, only to be saved by Naruto using that strange kekkei genkai of his to kill the traitor. She knew from her spying that it enabled him to make weapons out of bone, muscle, and crystal from his own body. Something about it also allowed him to be an instant master with whatever weapon he happened to lay hands on. _In close-quarters to hand-to-hand combat, fighting him will likely be suicide. Maybe I'll ask him about it if we get together in teams._

"Congratulations everyone on your graduation." Iruka began, bringing the microphone closer to his mouth, "The world is a vast place, and as shinobi and kunoichi, you may have opportunities to see it. Out there, your best bet to survival will be in how well you learn, so pay attention to your new sensei, and do your best to survive. Now then, here's how this is going to work: I'm going to call out three names, and then assign you your team number. Now let's see here…"

He drawled on while looking through his list, causing everyone's hearts to race. Sasuke fan girls hoped to whatever god was listening that they would be put on Setsuka's team. Meanwhile, a good number of the student body wanted to join Naruto for being the only student so far that could possibly show up the Rookie of the Year. It was a divided opinion, but she knew that the two of them were, the most popular kids in class bar none.

Team One was made up of Ami and her cronies. Setsuka never really did like her, considering that the civilian fan girl was a weakling and a bully. She was also among the few children that were needlessly mean to Naruto, even after he was empowered by his new kekkei genkai. Contrary to what Ami thought, Naruto did not strike back at her so much out of weakness as much as he did because he obviously saw her as beneath him. He may have considered himself above pranking someone as lowly as her, but Setsuka did not; and she made sure that Ami always paid for her bullying ways whether or not she did it to Naruto.

The next five teams were a mish-mash of civilian and shinobi-born students that were lucky and or skilled enough to graduate. Setsuka had her doubts as to whether or not they would survive in the real world, but she would have to wait and see. She was not so arrogant as to believe that every one of them would live to tell their stories.

"Haruno Sakura," began Iruka, catching said girl's attention. Setsuka looked at the Haruno-girl's expression as she looked between Naruto and herself. After Naruto dressed her and Ino down, the two of them had worked hard to try and repair their friendship with him. The fact that he refused to talk to them for a while had made their efforts even more desperate, as they knew they were in the wrong. As such, neither of them wanted to be on Naruto's team; the guilt-bug was still eating away at them like an insect colony rejecting its Aburame host.

"Uzumaki Naruto," continued Iruka, earning a look of guilt on on Sakura's face. Naruto on the other hand, did not seem concerned.

"And Uchiha Sasuke. You are all Team Seven." Setsuka did not really like that prospect, but at the same time she was overjoyed. She was hoping that she would at least get to be on Naruto's team, although hopefully without the Haruno's interference. Well, that was one wish granted.

"Inuzuka Kiba and Kira, Aburame Shino, and Hyūga Hinata, you are all Team Eight." This was different; shinobi teams were generally made up of three genin and a jōnin sensei. As far as she knew, a superb tracking team was being constructed. One Inuzuka in the team was already a good head start; having two Inuzuka, both of whom are twins made the team even deadlier considering that both Kiba and Kira were practically one person. Setsuka knew her friend Hinata had very good vision (and developing assets) considering her Hyūga lineage…although she could see her disappointment that she was not on Naruto's team. Shino, Setsuka did not know enough about to form a conclusion, considering he (maybe she?) never said a word, but the body language was enough to convey his, or her, thoughts…all that aside, the Kikaichu bugs of the Aburame Clan would serve as perfect scouts.

"Team Nine is still in circulation, so Nara Shika, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chōji, you're Team Ten."

"What?!" screamed Ino, "You mean to tell me that I'm paired up with the hard-ass bitch, and Chōji?"

"You can take it up with the Hokage if you're not pleased." Iruka challenged, almost daring Ino to follow through on it, "He was the one who set up the teams." Yet another generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and Setsuka could see why it was so. The team configuration was so effective that capturing fugitives and defensive work, especially when working in tandem with a Tracker team. The problem with that was that the team would be over-specialized and predictable…she would have to wait and see how they would fare.

"All right then, that's it for the team assignments. You will all wait here for your team sensei to come pick you up."

* * *

[Somewhere in Astral Chaos]

The rhythmic sound of metal scraping along a stone was heard over the crackle of a nearby campfire as a woman sharpened the fishlike blade of her kopis. Digging into the ground near her were a dory, an aspis, and several javelins. The woman herself wore boiled leather greaves and gauntlets, and a linothorax that hugged her muscular curves over a tunic that covered her modesty. A bronze Corinthian helmet was settled down next to her, the plumage at the top indicating her rank as a commander.

A brief buzzing sound was heard from behind. The woman's reflexes jumped into overdrive, the blade of the kopis sailing in the air as she attempted to decapitate the person she knew appeared behind her. A hand suddenly caught her sword-hand by the wrist. "Impressive, your sword skills have not dulled," intruder praised, the voice revealing itself to be a very-naked woman she knew all too well.

Extricating her hand away from the intruder, the woman went back to work sharpening her sword. There was no point in fighting the intruder, given her power. "What do you want, Kurama?"

Kurama smirked behind her. "Oh just a bit of company…it does get lonesome up in the tower and all, Alecto."

"If you have an itch to scratch, then why don't you do it with the avatars?" snipped Alecto, still sharpening her sword.

"Elysium's too much of a prude, and Inferno…well, even I wouldn't be stupid enough to bed him."

Alecto scoffed. "I would imagine."

As though in response to her words, Alecto paused as soon as she felt a hand sneaking into her linothorax and under the tunic to grab her breast, while the other came in under the tassels of the linen armor to stroke her well-muscled thigh. She tried to resist the wave of pleasure that came from Kurama massaging her breast while stroking her leg at the same time. The movements alone reminded her that she'd not had any release since she was sent back to Astral Chaos upon her second death at the hands of the Rabbit-Goddess. Her resistance was reaching its peak as Kurama started kissing the nape of her neck.

"Besides," continued Kurama, pausing in her attempt to seduce Alecto, "Neither of those two would know enough about pleasure of the flesh to service me correctly; and none of the men in your camp can satisfy me. And then I thought, you and I both haven't had any release for a long time now. True, I might have wanted to feel your last king taking me hard in bed like the man I know he was; but I figured 'might as well do us both a favor, and release all the tension.' Well, more so for you than for me, considering how much you loved the king you failed to avenge."

"I have conditions," said Alecto, as Kurama continued her ministrations.

"Oh really?" asked Kurama, looking at Alecto. She was almost challenging her to say more.

"Nothing that you haven't heard before. As long as Naruto remains a threat to your rule, you're nothing more than a regent," continued Alecto, not deterred in the slightest by Kurama's glare, "And because you in turn are a threat to his future rule, my last king's requirements for succession are clear. Until you defeat Naruto in honorable combat for the throne, you are no less a servant than I am. In other words, you can bed me all you like…just don't go calling yourself my master until you've earned that privilege."

Kurama hated being reminded of that, but she was horny as hell. "So you want us to be equals in bed, eh? Normally, I would kill you for that mouth; but to tell you the truth, I really like that kind of sass. I think it'll be a challenge to make you mine. I'll agree to your condition."

{Play: "Drift" by Blake Perlman, from "Pacific Rim"}

There were a few tense seconds of silence before Alecto broke out of Kurama's hold. Her slap across the cheek had thrown the fox-woman to the ground. The look she had in her eyes had spoken volumes of her desire as she cracked her knuckles. "Prepare for the Themyscira Massage."

Kurama smiled fiercely as she nursed her cheek, looking upwards to see Alecto slowly taking off her gauntlets. "Actually, this kind of service ain't half-bad. Is this how you Amazons do it in Themyscira?"

"Nah! I reserve this treatment for women I don't like so much." she answered, turning around to take off her greaves and swat Kurama's hand away from her bouncing ass. She then turned to face Kurama, allowing her hands to creep up to the straps of her linothorax, "I remember teaching Amazon-style Pankration and the Themyscira Massage to that girl during Algol's reign…last I heard, she was so inspired by my stories about life in Themyscira that she wanted to start a place where women hold more power over men. Perhaps even be an equal to the Hero-King himself. I think her name was Nadeshiko…yeah, her name was definitely Yamato Nadeshiko."

"You taught the founder of that island?" Kurama asked in surprise. "Those girls gave me the best nights of my life!"

Alecto answered with an elbow-drop on Kurama's abdominals shortly after she danced her linothorax off. "Who said you could talk? Besides, now's the time for the pleasure…" She then allowed her tunic to drop to reveal her strong, olive-tanned body still in its prime. As she began to lie down beside Kurama, she then slapped her across the face yet again.

"Oh come on baby, we both know you can hit harder!" goaded Kurama, before Alecto forcefully pulled her head into a very fearsome kiss with one hand. Feeling her pain being dulled by shock, Kurama returned the kiss with equal ferocity with one hand locking their faces together to allow their tongues to dance in their mouths as Alecto's other hand massaged her breast. One thigh was placed over Kurama's, sliding up and down while Kurama's free hand was gripping tightly onto Alecto's ass.

After a few minutes of a flesh-melting kissing session, Alecto broke the kiss and started moving downwards to nuzzle Kurama's neck, while the arm used to hold their faces together moved through the valley between the fox-woman's breasts, paused briefly to give her abdominals a few strokes, before reaching down to hook into her pussy suddenly. Kurama's moans were even more pleasured as Alecto's kiss, and stimulation of her clit caused her to reach a high she hadn't reached so far in a long while. It didn't help that Alecto was moaning into her throat as Kurama's hand finally found itself on Alecto's breast. Both knew that this was mere lust, but it was the sort of contact they needed to release all their tension for the moment, lest they be driven insane by a lack of sex.

"Do it more, Amazon! Service your future queen some more!"

Alecto broke from her kiss to bite Kurama in the neck. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff! Show this bad girl how you Themyscira girls give the naughty people a massage!"

"Your wish is my command, slutty queen." Alecto growled, punching Kurama in the stomach before sucking hard on her breast to the point of nearly biting her over the areola. Her tongue then began tickling the nipple while her head massaged the fox-woman's entire breast. Normally Themyscira-style sex would normally require a gentler touch for women, but Kurama had the audacity to name herself future queen, which added more fuel to the fire for Alecto's treatment of her. Not that the fox-woman cared, she liked being on Alecto's bad side enough that she enjoyed being abused by her prior to and during sex.

As Alecto's movements got faster, so too did Kurama's. Both were determined to make the other come first, until their eventual highs had come to a standstill. The race was so close that all it took was for one of them to come for the other to follow. Their race had come to a sudden halt the second they heard a loud "AAAAAAH!" emanating nearby behind Alecto's tent, causing them both to cum at the same time.

Alecto and Kurama both stood up, and investigated; it was a fair-skinned girl in her early twenties with red hair lying down and panting against a rock. She was a good deal shorter than the two of them, and had softer features; but it was clear she was a fighter from the subtle bulge of muscles under her pale skin. She was also naked with a slimy trail coming out from between her legs, her sword and shield nearby, along with her fur-lined armor, and bearded axe. "Well, well, well," Alecto teased, knowing exactly who this girl was, "If it isn't Astrid Sigurdsdottir. Enjoy the view?"

"A-A-Alecto-sama!" said Astrid, her knees knocking together from fear upon seeing Alecto, "I came here to ask you for advice, and wound up seeing you and the regent."

Kurama and Alecto briefly looked at each other, wondering what to do with the peeping girl. "Eh, more the merrier I say."

* * *

{Play: "Kakashi's Theme" by Toshiro Masuda, from "Naruto"}

[Konoha Ninja Academy, three hours later]

Naruto stood from his spot, filling the air with dull thuds as he brought in a target board from outside an hour ago to throw kunai and shuriken at. Thankfully, he used regular knives this time; not only did it hurt him to do what he did on the final exams, but Sasuke and Sakura practically winced every time he did it. Everyone took turns at throwing at the target at a good enough distance away, with Naruto and Sasuke having tighter groupings, while Sakura threw her kunai and shuriken at various parts of the target.

As soon as the door opened, the jōnin took one step into the room only for a quick snap to be heard. He was then dragged along the floor by the ankle and then hung upside down in front of the target board. If one could listen closely, they would hear the sound of drums rolling as Naruto held three kunai in each hand, which were then thrown at him quickly; three of them stabbed into the area near the shinobi's left side, then the right, before Naruto followed through with two shuriken near his neck, and finishing off with a large kunai dangerously close to his crotch.

The jōnin disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing himself to be a log that was replaced at the last minute. He then walked in from the open door, allowing the genin to have a better look at him. He was a sleepy-eyed man in his twenties wearing the standard green flak jacket of the Konoha jōnin. A hitai-ate was worn over his right eye to hold up his broom-like silver hair while serving as an eyepatch. The lower half of his face was covered in a skin-tight mask, and much of his outfit under the flak jacket was dark blue. "Let's see now," he said, rubbing his chin in thought, "My first impression of you three is…that you all belong in a circus."

Whatever maledictions Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had for the jōnin were cut off when he spoke next. "I'll see you three on the roof."

They never got a chance to say anything back, as the jōnin had vanished in another puff of smoke. There was no other option but to go to the roof.

* * *

[Konoha Ninja Academy Roof, five minutes later]

Seated on the edge of the roof was the jōnin. He looked at all three genin with a sleepy eye, trying to get a figure for them all. "All right then, why don't we start off with introductions," he finally said, "we tell each other our names, our dreams, and hobbies. Likes and dislikes would help as well."

"Uh, why don't we start with you?" Sakura asked, almost nervous enough to speak with the man.

"Okay then," said the jōnin, his one eye doing all the smiling for him. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes…I have plenty. My dislikes…I won't say. My hobbies are none of your business. As to dreams, I don't have any."

The thought shared by all three genin was: _All we learned was his name._

Kakashi's gaze had shot towards Sakura, pinning her down like a snake hypnotizing a mouse. "Well now, since you had the guts to ask up, why don't we start with you, Pinkie?"

Deciding to work up the courage to answer, Sakura began. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like sweet things, and dislike spicy things. My hobbies include trivia games and looking into medical books. My dream…" as she trailed on, she had a confused look on her face. She gathered her thoughts, and began to continue. "is to settle down with a certain someone, and prove to Naruto that I'm sorry for treating him badly."

_Well, she's a fan-girl, but she's also an atoner._ Thought Kakashi, thinking about her answer. "Next up is the emo."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke; I don't have a lot of likes, and plenty of dislikes." began Sasuke, nonchalantly. "I don't have any hobbies. I don't have a dream, but an ambition to kill a certain man. After that, I don't know."

Kakashi sighed in exasperation to Naruto. _I guess he still wants to kill Itachi…but still, he could at least have some semblance of what he wants to do afterwards._ He then turned his attention to Naruto. "You there, circus-boy! You're up!"

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and training. I dislike the time it takes to make ramen, and people that look down on me. Hobbies, I like gardening a lot, as well as training. I used to dream about being the best Hokage in the world; but now I have an ambition to become king of Hi no Kuni, if not the world."

_King, huh?_ Kakashi thought to himself, _That's a pretty big ambition. I wonder how well you'll be able to manage the political affairs of Hi no Kuni, never mind the world._ "All right then. I have graduation test for the three of you, so come tomorrow morning."

Sakura raised her eyebrow in confusion. "But Kakashi-sensei, I thought we already passed the graduation exam."

The sinister laugh that Kakashi let out made it clear what he thought of the question. "That exam was to see which of you could become genin." he responded, his laughter slowing to a halt. "The test that I'm going issue to the three of you is to see which of you is worthy of becoming genin. And in all honesty, you have a 70% chance of failure with me as a teacher."

"You don't have the right to say that," said Naruto, a defiant look in his eyes as he stared back into Kakashi's functional eye. "I mean, sure, there are students who will fuck up and not become genin. But you can't just predict that we will be part of your little statistic."

"Well if you're so sure you're worthy of being a genin, then why don't you take the test tomorrow morning to find out?" Kakashi challenged, grinning fiercely under his mask.

"Oh I'll be there." Naruto replied, not taking his gaze away from Kakashi, "I'll show you that we all deserve to be a team."

Kakashi's expression seemed amused by Naruto's acceptance of his challenge. "Very well then, since you're so committed, meet me over at Training Ground 7 at 7:30 in the morning," he said, turning to leave, "And by the way, I wouldn't bother with breakfast: you'll just throw it up."

There was a loud 'whoosh' as Kakashi shunshined away. "I'll meet you two there tomorrow." said Sasuke, leaping off the edge of the roof and into a nearby cart of straw. He then rolled out of the cart, disappearing into the populace.

"I've got to get home," said Sakura, with an apologetic look on her face. "I'll talk to you later."

Naruto nodded in understanding as Sakura went down the stairs. They were advised not to have breakfast, but they still needed rest. Before he could leave, he saw a paper airplane sailing in front of his face. Naruto caught the paper construct with one hand and unfurled it. It was a map to the Konoha Art Gallery; a place that he was never really allowed in, due to the people managing the place kicking him out whenever he tried to go in to see the pictures. There was a small mouse waiting at the reception area, shaking its whiskers as it looked back up at him.

* * *

{Play: "Canyons 2" by Tecmo, from "Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z"}

[Somewhere in the Uchiha District]

Setsuka pulled a box out of a brick compartment she'd kept hidden from the public eye. It was easy to do, considering that this secret compartment was in her own house. As she opened the box, she inspected the contents. It was a red-lacquered cane with parts that would allow it to be disguised as a parasol. She then gave one end of the cane a tug, revealing it to be a iai-blade shikomizue with a straight, single-edged blade. The length of the blade was halfway between a katana and a wakizashi for a fast draw, and durable enough for a sustained fight. It was her mother's blade, a versatile weapon that was useful in assassinations and general combat. "Tsukihime Shiranui, it's time for you to serve a new master."

As she searched through the box, and Setsuka found a large whetstone and maintenance toolkit that she hid with it. She walked to the kitchen, with the shikomizue in hand to maintain the blade. It needed to be sharpened for tomorrow's test.

* * *

{Play: "Fate to Zero" by Yuki Kajiura, from "Fate/Zero"}

[Konoha Art Gallery, half an hour later]

The Konoha Art Gallery never let Naruto in before, and so it was more than suspicious that the receptionist allowed him in this time. Granted, it looked to be a new person manning the booth, but according to the Hokage, almost everybody hated his guts for the fox in them. Yes, this was more than suspicious.

Approaching footsteps could be heard nearby, causing the mouse to jump out of the map, leading his eyes towards the person approaching him and disappearing into a scroll in their hand. It was a very androgynous person around his age with milky skin, raven hair in a bowl cut, and wearing skin-tight black clothes with a bared midriff. The hitai-ate this person wore had a red cloth, but the crest marked them as a Konoha shinobi. A permanent grin was plastered on the person's face, one that disturbed him to no end. "Uzumaki Naruto," said the person, the voice revealing itself to be female, as she bowed. "My master bids you welcome…dickless."

"Your master seems a little friendly to me," said Naruto, doing his best not to punch the girl in the mouth. "Why is he going so far as to invite me into a place that's never welcomed me?"

"He just wishes to have a little chat with you. Preferably in a place he is most comfortable in, dickless."

"How do I know he won't take advantage of the chance to kill me here and now?"

The girl chuckled lightly. "You don't," she finally said, still smiling, "Besides, if my master wanted you dead, he'd have killed you already…you dickless bastard."

"Okay, first off…I'd watch your mouth, or else the person you say that to is going to beat you up," warned Naruto, "Secondly, show me the way."

As he was led through the gallery, Naruto could not help but be amazed at the works of art being displayed. Exquisite clay pots, jade sculptures of guardian lions, even golden lacquerware with elegant mother-of-pearl inlays. All in all, there were so many wonders that he had to ask himself why he hadn't snuck into the gallery sooner.

Before he knew it, Naruto found himself in a section of the gallery dedicated to sumi-e scrolls. So many masterpieces, all of them wonderfully-done, that he could not choose a favorite among them. As he scanned the area, he found something that immediately caught his eye. An old man sat on a bench, admiring a painting of pond shrimp crawling around under lily pads for food. He was surrounded by four masked shinobi hanging upside-down from the ceiling. The girl nodded, beckoning him to go sit with the old man. Seeing no other alternatives, Naruto walked up and saw the old man scoot over, offering him a seat.

Settling himself down next to the old man, Naruto began to have a look at the painting. "I've heard pray tell that you wanted to see me. So, what do you want to talk to me about?"

* * *

**_A/N: And we end with a cliffhanger [cue evil laughter]. I wonder…who is Naruto going to speak with? And how will the talks go? Stay tuned…_**

**_Also, on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the hottest so far, how would you rate the hotness of the scene with Alecto?_**

* * *

**_Vocabulary:_**

**_Kopis─this is the Ancient Greek version of the khukri, only it's a sword instead of a knife._**

**_Dory─this is the Greek spear; too long and heavy to be thrown, but it is the main melee weapon of the Greek Hoplite._**

**_Aspis─this is the Greek shield, it's a circular shield about three feet in diameter._**

**_Linothorax─this is the Greek linen armor; it's light, cheap, and can take a lot of punishment from arrows._**

**_Themyscira─the homeland of the Amazons, supposedly located in modern-day Terme, Turkey._**

**_Tsukihime Shiranui─The name Setsuka's shikomizue is written as "月姫 不知火", and it means "Moon Princess, Phosphorescent Light"._**

* * *

**_Styles used:_**

**_None yet…_**

* * *

**_Cameos/References_**

**_Astrid Sigurdsdottir─Astrid is a Nordic girl's name, fitting considering this girl is a Viking Shield Maiden. Vikings are usually surnamed after their parents, but eventually they get their own surnames as titles. An example of this is that before a certain Viking became Bjorn Ironside, he was first Bjorn Ragnarsson, because his father was Ragnar Lodbrok. Same case applies for Leif Eriksson, as his father was Erik the Red. In this case, Astrid Sigurdsdottir means "Astrid, daughter of Sigurd."_**


	8. Bonds

**_A/N: Here we go…longest chapter in this story yet, even without the A/N. Do read and review, would you kindly?_**

…

{Play: "Nine-tailed Demon Fox" by Toshiro Masuda, from "Naruto"}

[Konoha Art Gallery]

"I've heard pray tell that you wanted to see me." said Naruto, sitting down next to the old man, "So what do you want to talk to me about?"

"I have a proposition for you, Uzumaki Naruto." said the old man, not taking his gaze away from the painting. He wore a simple white kimono under an indigo coat and half his leathery face was swathed in bandages. Only one hand was gripping onto a cane, but Naruto could tell that the old man was more than capable of holding his ground in spite of being an apparent cripple. A long time of training under Edge Master had drilled that lesson into his head when dealing with this man with the x-shaped scar on his chin. "It's something that would benefit us all in the long run."

Naruto looked at the old man in surprise. "Really? Because I've heard next to nothing about you."

"Pardon my rudeness, I am Shimura Danzo; a shinobi elder of the village." said the old man, "I would also ask that you forgive my brazen request, but I have heard word of your training under the man called 'Edge Master' and felt that you could do some good for the village."

"What makes you think I want what's best for the village?" asked Naruto, "I mean sure, this is the place I was born in, but it's hardly a place I would care a lot about."

"It's still your home…all things considered. I may even be able to make you into the Hokage."

Naruto smiled, thinking about what this man knew. "It may have been my dream at one time, but I have much bigger ambitions now."

Danzo scoffed. "Still on about that 'kingship' business are we?"

Poor choice of words in his mind, but Naruto managed to calm down. No need to be angry at a man that was obviously baiting him. "Don't mock me. I promised that I would do it."

"To a long-dead king, if I may add." Danzo reminded.

"And you obviously just want me to join because you don't want the furball in my gut." Naruto snipped, not believing for a second the man had meant well for the village.

"I won't lie, having the Kyūbi no Yoko is a very good idea. It would give me just the power I would need to realize my ambitions."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Danzo's remark. "Your ambitions?"

"To make this village strong, and to protect it from all threats as Hokage."

He just could not hold back at this point. At first, Naruto tried to cover his mouth to conceal his laughter, but the dam had broken through. "You? As Hokage? Surely you're joking!"

Naruto soon burst into a full bout of laughter, earning a look of animosity from Danzo. "What's so funny?"

"How can I take you seriously as Hokage, when your shinobi are little more than dolls that are trained to do the work of real shinobi?" asked Naruto, as his laughter died down, "I saw the girl that led me here. She couldn't do anything but smile as she called me 'dickless.' I believe if you had your way, you'd make it so that every shinobi was broken down and turned into an emotionless doll."

"And what is wrong with that? Emotions are the bane of all shinobi." answered the old man tersely. "Shinobi are mere humans that fear and are broken easily. It is better if shinobi had no emotions at all; this way, we can eliminate the fear of death from the equation."

"You think that breaking your shinobi to become fearless makes them strong? It makes them weak!" Naruto said, his voice becoming dangerously calm as he glared daggers at Danzo. "Honestly, you're not doing much to refute that you'll be a fool of a Hokage, if that's what you believe."

The sound of gritting stone could be heard in the area as Danzo gripped his cane even tighter. His rage had caused the wooden dowel to tremble as he bit out the next three words: "Then teach me."

"How can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible, without the most powerful impulse of the human spirit: the fear of death?" asked Naruto, challenging Danzo, "As long as your shinobi do not know the fear of death, they will not get that sudden rush of energy they need to get the job done. Because they obviously don't fear death, they would very likely be killed with little trouble when faced with a strong opponent."

"Choose your words carefully, boy," Danzo warned, "I came here to offer you a place in my organization. If you refuse, I will ensure that you do not leave this place alive."

"And you're gullible if you think I would come here alone."

Danzo hazarded a glance at the girl that led Naruto to the museum. She was standing in such a manner that she was neither aggressive nor passive; ready to attack at a moment's notice without having her attacks televised. Her nod had told him enough. With a snap of his fingers, all four shinobi standing in the corners of the exhibit allowed themselves to drop to the floor on their feet. Upon landing, all four of them pounced, while the girl pulled out a scroll to begin painting.

Within a few seconds, twelve flashes of light had appeared, four in front of each ANBU about to pounce on Naruto, one in front of Naruto, six surrounding Danzo, and the final one in front of the girl that was about to paint. Each flash burst into sparkles, revealing themselves to be twelve humans wearing practical noh-style masks not unlike ANBU operatives. Each did something different: the four in front of Danzo's ANBU knocked away their weapons, and pinned them all to the walls of the exhibit; the one in front of the girl kneed her in the abdominals before sneaking around behind her, forced her to her knees, sat on her calves, and snaked arms under her armpits to force her head downwards; the one near Naruto gently pushed him away, giving him space from Danzo, while the remaining six surrounded threatened him.

Danzo's eye was wide, as the shinobi that were holding him down were doing so efficiently. The one with a dragon mask had a sword pointed at his bandaged eye, while one with a hannya mask gripped his neck in the junction where his biceps and his elbow met. A large shinobi with a bear mask had a hand around his wrist, while one with a beshimi mask had a very familiar knife held at his genitals. Holding a kunai to his eye was a shinobi with a cat mask, while another in a dog mask held his shoulder down.

The girl was being held down by a shinobi with a tiger mask, while the other shinobi were pinned to walls with a mouse, an oni, a tengu, and a Fudo. The shinobi that pulled Naruto away was obviously a kunoichi in a lion mask.

"I told you you were gullible," Naruto taunted, gently extricating himself from the kunoichi in the lion mask. "Danzo, I'd like for you to meet the finest of my royal guard. All twelve of them are shinobi and kunoichi that have come to me about a year after Edge Master decided to take me in as his apprentice. To this day, they have not removed their masks, and they still refuse to tell me who they are; and yet, for some reason, they have pledged their undying loyalty to me as king. I don't care anymore who they really are; I feel a connection to them, I really do care about them, and that's all that matters."

Danzo had a good look at the shinobi around him, particularly at the kunoichi in the dragon mask as she threatened him with her sword, glaring hatefully at him. It was at this point that he began to wonder: How did Naruto do this? Who are they? Why are they so strong and loyal to him? "Now let me make this clear to you Danzo, so that there's no misunderstandings between us," said Naruto, "I'm not going to work for you, it's you that is going to work for me! You will give up your ambition to become Hokage so that you'll serve as my advisor! In return, my Companions will serve as your personal bodyguards, but they will ultimately answer to me at the end of the day. Am I clear?"

With all the animosity directed at him, Danzo had no choice but to nod in agreement. With a single gesture, the royal guard released the ANBU, relaxed around Danzo, and let the girl go. Without another word, Naruto left the exhibit. As the kunoichi in the dragon mask had sheathed her blade, the rest of the royal guard vanished into thin air. "Danzo-sama, shall we tell the others to…"

"No, Shin," Danzo interrupted, massaging his neck as he hazarded a glance at the one he silently dubbed 'Dragon Lady', "The little king has made his stance clear: we serve him. Normally, I would rage against the heavens for this; but for some reason, this feels…right, somehow." As he thought on it, Danzo did something he'd never done in a long time: he grinned. "Besides, it's been such a long time since I respected someone that had as much audacity as he did to put me down like that."

"Don't get too comfortable." cautioned the Dragon Lady, her sudden words hitting Danzo like a whip made of utter hatred for him. He then watched as she took a seat next to him. "The second we so much as taste any hint of betrayal from you, I am going to kill you personally. Then we're going hunt down the rest of your little cabal, and present your souls to him as a gift."

…

{Play: "Sakura's Theme" by Toshiro Masuda, from "Naruto"}

[Training Ground 8, the next morning]

The chirping of birds seemed to surround Hinata as she walked down the path leading towards the training ground, bringing her mood up even if by a margin. More than five months ago, she'd been disowned by her father, and sent to live with a woman that would become her sensei. And yet, she still found support in quite a few places that she wouldn't in her own house.

Among the most obvious people she had to thank would be Kurenai-sensei for taking her in as her apprentice. The woman occupied a space in her heart that was opened when her mother died a little over a year after Hanabi was born. Why her father had to go so far as to call her a failure, Hinata didn't know; what she did know was that he wasn't always like that. But in any case, she had to thank Kurenai-sensei for being her rock in these times when she felt like hating Hiashi for what he did. Thanks to her, not only was she able to work up more confidence to be able to use her Jūken to kill when necessary, but she was able to approach Naruto without fainting as much.

"Hey Hinata-chan," called a male voice she knew well.

"How're you doing?" finished a female voice. As the two of them approached, she remembered that she also had the Inuzuka Twins to thank for being there when she needed support; especially from Kira-chan who was like a sister she desperately wanted. The two of them flanked her sides, bringing up memories the two of them shared. They'd grown up thick as thieves, only growing closer after the attempted kidnapping by the Kumo Ambassador…thankfully, their relationship had remained steadfast through the years.

"I'm fine, Kiba-kun, Kira-chan. How are things in the Inuzuka compound?"

"Just the same-old, same-old," said Kiba, "Just lots of animals we had to heal."

"We just got birds in the vet," added Kira, "I guess mom wants to be familiar with as many animals as possible."

"That could only make it good for business." Hinata agreed, nodding as the three of them walked down the path. "The more animals she can save, the more people she can make happy."

As the three of them approached the meeting place, they saw a very familiar form waiting for them at the fountain. "Shino!" Hinata called out, getting the Aburame member's attention. Hinata did not know much about Shino…however, she knew that the Aburame was far from inhuman. Once in a while, she found herself opening up to the trench coat-wearing Aburame. She could also feel the aura changing whenever she discussed certain topics; such as with what she saw Naruto doing while training. It didn't give Shino an edge in the taijutsu spars back in the academy, as the Aburame were not skilled in the art of taijutsu; however, she knew from body language and firsthand experience of their actions that Shino was a good person at heart. It was only yesterday that she found out, at Kurenai-sensei's request, that Shino was an introverted girl.

"Have you been waiting long?" Hinata asked.

"Not too long." she admitted tersely. Whatever thoughts were in her mind, she had no idea; but Hinata had the idea that perhaps Shino should see Naruto. If he couldn't get even a peep from this silent child, Hinata had no idea what would.

"You've all arrived on the dot," came the voice of Kurenai, appearing from the treeline. "That's good, it's a sign that you're all reliable." She then turned her attention to Shino. "Shino-chan, do please remember to speak more often. The mission could depend on how well you communicate with your teammates."

"Understood, sensei."

"Okay then, we're going to do our genin test now," said Kurenai, satisfied with the answer. "I've a package hidden in the training ground; you have to find it before noon. Failure to do so will send you back to the academy."

The four genin of Team 8 had separated, vanishing in a blur. None of them had any intention of going back to the academy, not after how far they'd come. They would find the package, or die trying if that's what it took.

…

[Training Ground 7]

Sakura had arrived at the training ground, and found Sasuke already waiting there, her heart pounding as she closed in on her crush. There were words in her mind, ready to ask the boy out for a date later; they were all thrown out upon seeing a lacquered red bar in his hands. She had no idea what it was, aside from the obvious fact that it was a weapon of some sort. "Hey there, Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke said nothing, merely acknowledging her with a 'hn' as she sat down next to him. "So what's that you got there?" she asked, indicating the lacquered bar.

"Something that used to be my mom's." he answered, "I heard she was deadly with it. Since it was collecting dust, I figured that maybe the old girl would like some fresh air."

"Fighting with a family heirloom?" asked Naruto walking into the clearing, cracking his neck back into place. He then took a better look at the bar in Sasuke's hands. "It's obvious this thing's seen more than its fair share of action. You think you can match up to its last owner?"

"We'll see about that, Naruto." Sasuke responded, grinning wildly.

Sakura worried that something would happen…she honestly didn't know who to root for, or if she should be rooting for anyone. On the one hand, she had her crush; the boy she'd always dreamed of getting into the same team with. On the other, she had a boy that she'd been working hard to convince she was sorry.

At first, for a few days after they were chewed out by Naruto, Sakura and Ino were always running away from him in shame; he'd made them feel guilty about what he'd had to put up with from them for the past few years. After a week or so of dodging him, the both of them worked up the courage and the patience they could to prove they were sincerely sorry to him. It wasn't easy, given how he was in 'not talking to you' mode at the time. Eventually, their persistence had paid off; because by the end of the next year, they'd managed to get him to start talking to them again. It wasn't on the friendly terms they were looking for (not that they blamed him) but at least he was talking to them. To become friends with him again needed more time, and so in addition to their competitions to see who would get to go out with Sasuke first, they also wanted to see who would be forgiven by Naruto first.

Thankfully, Naruto simply took a seat next to Sasuke as the three genin waited for Kakashi to show up. Three hours would pass until Kakashi finally showed up. "Yo."

"If you took any longer, I would've made a spear and hunted you like an animal." Naruto threatened, very angry at the teacher.

"Sorry about that," said Kakashi, doing little to hide his shame, "I was helping an old lady cross the street."

"LIAR!" shrieked Sakura, still very angry at the teacher.

Kakashi raised his arms in feigned surrender. His attempts to placate his angered students failing. "Now, now. I'm here aren't I? Besides, I'm sure you'll find this particular test easy." He then pulled out a pair of bells from his pockets. "You have until noon to take these bells from me to pass the Genin Exam."

It was at this moment that Sakura noted something off with the picture. "Wait a minute Kakashi-sensei, there's only two bells here."

"Very astute Sakura," said Kakashi, grinning sinisterly under his mask, "the reason there's only two bells is because one of you is going to fail and be sent back to the Academy. My only advice to you is this: come at me with the intent to kill."

The three genin vanished in three blurs, as Kakashi stood still. His stance was relaxed, but he was more than ready to act. "Not bad," he said to himself, "At least their concealment skills are good."

After a moment of silence, Kakashi felt the presence of someone behind him. He turned around, and found himself looking down at the tracksuit-clad appearance of Uzumaki Naruto with a confident grin on his face. "Aren't you supposed to be hiding?"

"Well, if we don't make a move, we're not going to get the bells now are we?" Naruto challenged, stretching his neck forward to allow a bump to form in the juncture where his neck met his shoulders. The bump split apart to give way for the bone spur that grew through it, the segmented appearance making it clear that Naruto was making this weapon from his spinal column. Once the spine extruded itself long enough, Naruto grabbed onto it, giving it a very strong tug to pull the rest of it out with a pained grunt. The spinal column swung limply like a thick rope in his hand, until Naruto gave it a sudden jerk, causing it to straighten, sharpen, and shape itself. It had become a segmented and serrated sickle-sword of crystallized bone with an organic eye on each side near the tip looking straight at Kakashi. "Besides, subtlety was never really my style; so, since I am here, might as well use this opportunity to spar with you."

If Kakashi were impressed, he did precious little to show it. "Interesting, I knew you'd made progress in the past few years," he said, looking at Naruto with a hint of curiosity in his eye, "I was one of two shinobi assigned by the Hokage to oversee your training. Perhaps now is a good time to review what you learned from the old man."

…

[Setsuka]

Hidden nearby in bushes, Setsuka watched carefully as Kakashi pulled out a very infamous orange book from his back pouch. Loath as she was to admit it, she picked up that book series once and found several scenes to be very steamy; the rest of the Icha-Icha series seemed a bit stupid for her tastes. "I really wouldn't be reading right now," Naruto finally said, his segmented sickle-sword at the ready.

{Play: "Anger" from "Naruto Shippuden"}

"Well how can I get to the end of the story if I don't keep reading?" taunted Kakashi, his attention not leaving the book in his hands as he turned the page. The answer he received was the tines of Naruto's sickle-sword moving on down to lop off his arms, forcing Kakashi to put down his book and backstepped, ducked as Naruto transitioned into a horizontal swing, and then back-flipped to avoid a downward diagonal cut that would have started from his shoulder. He then managed to land on a branch before getting putting the book back in the pouch.

"Then again, I suppose I can always get back to that point!" he said, making a run for it.

"Don't think you can escape!" called out Naruto, swinging the blade. As he did so, the sickle-sword began to detach, each link being connected by some kind of fiber that stretched and extended the blade far beyond what she thought was possible. The blades of the sickle-sword cut through the branches of the tree before a simple flick of the wrist had caused the blades to move such a manner as to cut off Kakashi's escape as the blades retracted. This would force Kakashi to leap back into the same battlefield as Naruto.

"Impressive," said Kakashi, having a new level of respect for the bone-sword in Naruto's hand, as every bone locked back in place, "And with a weapon you've obviously never used before. Still, the way I see it, you're nothing more than a walking arsenal if you've yet to master any of your creations."

"You're too fun to let go, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto answered, brandishing his now-limp spine-blade in one hand, while creating a second, more conventional sword out of a blue crystal. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to escape for long with this weapon I've made."

"We'll see about that."

Setsuka watched as the entire battle unfolded before her eyes; if what Kakashi said was true, then Naruto was already at a disadvantage. However, the unpredictability of Naruto's bone weapon gave him an edge; the addition of a second blade was another. As Kakashi stood in front of Naruto with a pair of kunai drawn, each of them waited for the other to make a move. She needed to time her entrance just right in order to stop the jōnin from escaping. With any luck, she'd be able to get the bells while Naruto was distracting him; or at the very least, stop him from escaping.

The problem was that the waiting was killing her, and she needed to move at just the right moment for this to work…

…

[Sakura]

Sakura could feel the tension as Naruto and Kakashi stared each other down. Such was the power of the fight that she felt like she was being chained down to the floor for some predator to come get her. She was so fixated on the fight before her that she began to think of how to help this fight along. Sasuke-kun was nearby, more than likely waiting for the time to strike, and she was trying to find a good time to go after the bells.

At this point, she made up her mind; she would wait for Sasuke and Naruto to distract Kakashi-sensei before she made her move. She would have a small window of opportunity for this

…

{"On the Battlefield" by Yuki Kajiura, from "Fate/Zero"}

[Kakashi]

Naruto began the fight, swinging his blades repeatedly while Kakashi managed to deflect each deadly blade with his kunai and his own strength. As the two of them were locked in their duel, the jōnin tried to look for an opportunity to escape, but soon realized that he only needed to hold for a while longer before these genin would lose by default. Besides, what better way of putting a genin in his place than by defeating him in his own element?

Still, Kakashi knew he had to separate Naruto from that bone sword of his if he wanted to make his victory absolute. That thing seemed to be alive, and probably had a very big craving for his flesh and blood. Add to the fact that Naruto could use it as a bladed whip at any time, and it made that sword the priority. This was especially the case since it appeared that the spinal cord was able to stretch itself to be sharp enough to aid the bones in cutting through thick tree branches. It definitely needed to go; after that, all Kakashi had to worry about was Naruto's swordplay.

As he was thinking this, he was doing his best to avoid getting cut by the two blades being used normally. Kakashi was surprised once in a while by the bone sword being used in its whip-form. Sometimes, Naruto would loosen the spinal cord stored in his bone sword and use it to cut off his escape.

In all honesty, he never had anything against Naruto, and he approved of the old man training him. The duel he was in with the boy had given him more than enough excitement for now, considering how much Edge Master had taught him to fight. Now he was experiencing the fruits of that mentorship firsthand. And while he held experience and skill over Naruto, Kakashi was at a disadvantage whenever Naruto decided to make the sword into a whip.

After almost an hour of being locked in the duel with Naruto, Kakashi finally saw his opportunity fight back when he saw the blade of the bone sword retract. As soon as the blade locked in place, he used one kunai to stab the eye, before hooking the kunai in such a manner that he was able to pull the blade away from Naruto's hand. He then followed through by kicking the boy in the face.

Now was his opportunity to run, but he soon found his exit cut off by Sasuke leaping out of the bushes, spinning in midair in an attempt to cut him. Moving backwards had practically pushed Kakashi in Naruto's direction, wielding his crystal sword in both hands. This would force the jōnin to fight both genin at once. Once he found another opening, Kakashi knocked away Naruto and Sasuke's swords before managing to kick the former hard enough in his groin to lift him into the air, and punch him square in the face. Sasuke on the other hand had his sword parried, before he was kneed in the stomach, and subsequently kicked into a tree. Upon impact, Sasuke had disappeared into a puff of smoke before he sank into unconsciousness.

Once he was satisfied that both genin were down, Kakashi then vanished into thin air. After all, it wouldn't do to leave loose ends.

…

[Sakura]

It was not good; Sasuke and Naruto were both beaten, and her chances of getting the bells were slim to nothing. She needed to…

"Sakura…"

Hearing her name, it was not a good sign. She then turned to see Kakashi standing above her. His hands were ready to cast a jutsu upon her when the sound of a bell was heard. "Well aren't you lucky?" he said, not at all happy with being interrupted. "Time's up. However, don't think for a second that you're getting off easily…"

…

[Training Ground Seven, five minutes later]

As Setsuka came to, her vision was blurry at first, until the blobs of color became more coherent. From there, she made out the browns and grays of the ground below her. Shaking off the blurriness, she noted that she was sitting up, and that she was tied to one of the posts. As she struggled, she suddenly stopped…she'd just realized that she was no longer in her Sasuke persona!

"Well, it looks like the sleeping beauty has awakened." Kakashi tittered, looking on at her with some veiled fury in his free eye. "And she's very pretty for her age, too."

Oh no, that meant that…no, it couldn't be. And yet, as she trained her gaze to the area beside Kakashi, she noted that Naruto was standing next to him; confused. No…no, no, no, NO! This wasn't supposed to be like this! She wasn't supposed to be revealing herself to him now!

"The test is already over," said Kakashi, interrupting her thoughts. "None of you are going back to the academy, because I'm dropping you all from being shinobi at all."

Before they could say anything in their defense, Kakashi beat them all to the punch. "Naruto, your brazen approach did something good in that you took the initiative, and opened up opportunities for Sasuke to move in and assist you; but you lack the coordination to do anything more effectively. You were able to redeem yourself and Sasuke, if only for a moment, in that you were able to coordinate an attack on me on the fly. The problem is that you failed to draw Sakura into the plan, thus making it easier on yourself."

He then turned to Sakura, who was standing near Naruto and Kakashi. The Haruno girl was snapped out of her confusion once the jōnin began his dressing-down. "As for you Sakura, you are so weak that I have no idea how you were able to become a genin with such unbalanced skillsets."

"And you Sasuke, if that's your real name, I will tell you why you are the one being tied up to the post. " snarled Kakashi, "I will praise you on your patience and your initiative to take up swordplay, as well as your ability to improvise tactics on the fly. However, your biggest crime is in deceiving your teammates; do you realize how this will affect your team dynamic if nobody in your team trusts you? If you don't trust your own teammates? Therefore, none of you are fit to become genin, much less shinobi."

Everyone looked to themselves, and found that he was right. Setsuka needed to trust in her team more, and because of her deceit. She had a long ways to go before she would be able to get Naruto to trust her. On the other hand, she did say she would start to repair the damage; she just didn't think she'd have to step up this soon. Sakura had always prided herself on her book smarts. However, she found that Kakashi was also right; her book smarts alone would not help her much. She needed to be more well-rounded if she wanted to survive long enough to at least prove she was sorry to Naruto. Naruto had no idea what to think about Kakashi's critique. But ultimately, he settled on shame; he needed to work better with others if he was to survive on his path to kingship.

"However, since you all showed promise, I will allow you all to have one more shot," said Kakashi, before turning his gaze to Setsuka. "I've brought two bento with me, so you will all try again after lunch. In the meantime, none of you are allowed to help Sasuke; she did not honor her team with her trust, she is paying for it. If you help her, you are expelled."

After saying his piece, Kakashi left in a whoosh. Naruto and Sakura sat down quietly, no doubt to eat their bentos. For the next few minutes, Setsuka kept her face to the ground, too ashamed of herself to face them now. "Naruto, what are you doing?"

This caught her attention, allowing Setsuka to see that Naruto was walking towards her, holding his bento with a pair of chopsticks in one hand while the other reached out to his back, pulling out a scapula from his back. "Naruto, don't do this, you're going to get in trouble!" warned Setsuka.

"Kakashi-sensei can kiss my ass," he said to Setsuka, not at all deterred from her words. "Look Sasuke, or whatever your real name is, I'll have plenty of time to get mad at you for lying to me all these years later. Right now, we need to pass Kakashi-sensei's test if we're going to make it out of this, and I need to know one thing from you: are you in, or out?"

Setsuka didn't know what to say. Naruto was giving her a chance to start off fresh…if only grudgingly. She didn't blame him one bit for being angry; in fact, she could tell from the look on his face that he was reluctant to help her for her deception. And yet, in spite of his anger, he was still willing to give her the chance to prove that she could at least be trusted. She owed him this, at the very least, and so she said two words that she'd resolved to never regret: "I'm in."

With a single 'thwack', Naruto's scapula hand-axe cut down the ropes tying Setsuka up, as he offered his bento to her. As she reached out for the box, a whirlwind had kicked up, bringing in Kakashi with it. "YOU! YOU DARE TO DEFY ME?!"

"Fuck you!" shouted Naruto, "Sasuke is a teammate! So she lied about who she is! BIG! FUCKING! DEAL! We're all a part of a team, and that's final!"

"If you're going to start expelling people, then you can count us in too!" Sakura joined in, suddenly finding the courage within herself to stand up to Kakashi in spite of her being terrified of him.

"TEAM? YOU? WELL I HAVE ONE THING TO SAY ABOUT THAT!"

The three genin braced themselves for his remark. They did not expect him to calm down immediately. "You pass."

"That's it?" asked Naruto, suspicious as to the jōnin's motives.

"That's it." Kakashi confirmed, his infamous eye-smile present on his face. "Because in spite of all our weaknesses and our lies, a team is always strong when its members stick together no matter what. That should be a first lesson to you for your path to kingship, Naruto."

…

{Play: "Harmonia" by Rhythem, from "Naruto}

[Elsewhere in Training Ground 7]

A pair of pale, lavender-colored eyes watched as Team 7 left the area; having been there since she passed her exams a couple hours ago. While Hinata was glad that Naruto and Setsuka were able to pass their genin exam, she could only sigh in sadness. It would be a long time before Naruto was able to trust her friend in the near future.

On the flip-side however, it granted them the opportunity to begin their relationship anew. And while Hinata had made it clear that she was willing to share Naruto with Setsuka, she felt that Naruto had to know her better first. In the meantime however, she was willing to do whatever it took to make Naruto acknowledge her. But for now, she had to hurry home…lest she give Kurenai-sensei a conniption.

…

_**A/N: Oh dear me…I wonder who Naruto's bodyguards are, and how the future will look now that Danzo is forced to be one of Naruto's servants. Anyway, quite possibly the longest chapter in this story, ever. Hopefully, I'll be able to work on Setsuka's efforts to regain Naruto's trust; but like for Sakura, that won't be easy.**_

_**…**_

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Scapula─the shoulder blade**_

_**…**_

_**Styles used:**_

_**Ivy Valentine/Abarai Renji**_

_**Ivy Valentine/Abarai Renji + Cervantes = Gilgamesh**_

_**Patroklos Alpha/Setsuka**_

_**…**_

_**Cameos/References**_

_**Naruto's discussion about the ROOT ANBU─modified a bit from Dark Knight Rises**_


	9. Before Chakra: Heart to Heart of Rulers

_**A/N: New chapter…this time it's dedicated to Algol and Kaguya. And I've changed my mind about their relationship enough to make it so that they are more than just worthy opponents. Since many of you weren't sold on my breaking up the chapters with flashbacks, I decided to dedicate chapters solely to these two rulers. Look at it this way: every time I do this, it will mark the start of a new arc. So do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

{Play: "Yohna ~ Pluck Version First)" by Okabe Keiichi from "Nier"}

[Border between Wa and Chūgoku, before chakra]

The moments of peace and tranquility were among the things that he treasured most. As Algol looked into the distance, he could see the Tower of Remembrance stabbing into the sky. It was from there that he began his rule. He never held his office from there, as it was too inconvenient for his human subjects to have to climb up its many steps to see him.

This did not mean that the tower was useless; far from it. After he'd taken the location, Algol had turned the tower into a library, housing copies of knowledge from his kingdom's greatest thinkers and sages. Formulas for gunpowder to match up with Chūgoku's artillery pieces, methods for making folded steel that could match up with their army, even a book on the tenets of Bushido (which he'd taken to reading on his spare time). The basement levels were used to house the library, and its ever-growing collection of books, scrolls, and documents.

It was also made into the most notable university in the kingdom, where only the elite of the elite in scholars were allowed to both teach and to learn. Professors and students studied in the upper levels of the tower, each level containing a chamber specific to one subject. There was university town at the base of the tower to house the scholars, but a special elevator system was constructed with his power to transport these teachers and students to and from their subjects.

Due to its location being the first place that Algol conquered, the Tower of Remembrance was used as a centerpiece for a line of towers and walls that marked the border between the Land of Wa, and Chūgoku. Several guards were placed in the middle floors of the tower, granting them a very good view below, while the rest were stationed at the smaller towers to keep watch for Chūgoku forces attempting a skirmish or an invasion. In combination with mountains and forests, there was no way of entering the Land of Wa without going past the gates.

As he sat down on the grassy field, Algol began to reminisce, which led to the tower's main purpose: to make him remember. He still remembered being a beloved ruler that lead with a fair hand, and the better days before his son was envious of power. Back then, the days were good; the forests were lush with life, his people prospered, peace was defended by competent warriors and guardians, and the laws ensured that the corrupt were punished. Better days indeed.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching. Algol turned to see that Kaguya was approaching. She was gazing down upon him with her regal eyes, her expression seemed contemplative. "Do you mind if I take a seat next to you?"

Algol checked her gaze for any hint of deceit. Satisfied with what he saw, he gave out a relieved sigh. "Help yourself."

Few things had bothered Algol since the start of his reign in this world. He was used to these kinds of negotiations, where all parties asked each other for compensation. At the heart of the talks was a discussion over their cause: a ten-tailed creature had begun rampaging in Chūgoku for a few weeks now, and it was feeding off the blood-soaked battlefields. It had recently gotten a taste for souls, and was creating an army that was strengthening as it added the dead to its ranks.

The negotiations were for a ceasefire, along with the possibility of an alliance to fight off this ten-tailed monster and its army of the living dead. The good news was that the dialogues have begun; the bad news was that they have begun. Algol and Kaguya's generals had been arguing over terms for a good few hours now, and neither side had come up with a satisfying agreement to compromise.

"I take it you are not the only one who is grateful for the recess granted." began Kaguya. "I have already learned the hard way how difficult it is to be a ruler. I still struggle to run my lands well, and yet here you are; your territories are militarized and disciplined, but you still have peace.

"As a king, I am used to it, but the rest is always appreciated." answered Algol, sparing Kaguya a cursory glance. "When you've had as much experience as I have in ruling a country, you learn very quickly to cherish the simple pleasures in life."

Kaguya snorted in agreement. "You speak as if you'd been king before. And I can believe that."

"I'd been a king for at least thirty years before I came to this world." Algol said, turning his attention back to the tower. "I am glad for the experience this has granted me, but I still long for days when I was a simple soldier's son."

"It sounds as though you tire of being a king. If so, then why take up the throne again?"

"A promise," began Algol. "I'd promised that as soon as I united the world, I would do everything in my power to ensure that its people would be happy and strong. I wish to become king again so that the world's life would not end in a tragedy."

A chuckle had left Kaguya as she took in the scenery. "Mutual enemies aside, I suppose that is one thing we have in common. Although I did see the amount of care you had whenever you glanced at my envoy, which makes it another."

"Your sister was brave to have come see me herself." At that, Kaguya turned to look at Algol with shock. "It didn't take me long to guess who Ōtsutsuki Tsukina is to you, Princess. She looks just like you, only softer. Her backbone is weaker than yours by comparison, but I will admit that has your willpower. If she was able to convince you to initiate these talks, I predict that she will go far one day."

While she was thankful for the praise he'd given to her sister, Kaguya's gaze had taken on a scrutinizing tone as she looked at Algol. The man had to have a sense of perception beyond what was normally possible if he was able to deduce her relationship with Tsukina fairly easily. It was also prominent in the moments before he executed Ōkuni for his foreseen treachery. "You're not human, are you?"

It was a statement, not a question. "Once. And I could tell that your clan is far from human as well. Few humans could match up to my power, much less a woman of your caliber."

Kaguya turned her attention back to the tower. "Another thing we have in common."

A moment's silence was shared between the two monarchs as they looked towards the tower. Several of their memories were made as they reminisced on the many battles that it had likely witnessed. Sometimes it was an invasion attempt, other times it was a border skirmish…but many of these battles would be remembered for years: Sanada Yukimura's defense of the wall against Zhao Yun, which led to a duel that ended in a draw; Xiahou Dun's rivalry with Date Masamune in the southern forests; Cao Cao and Liu Bei's coordinated tactics going up against Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the northern mountains; and even Honda Tadakatsu's battle against Guan Yu that earned respect from each man.

The most memorable of these border-wars was whenever Kaguya and Algol took direct part in these battles. The duels they had against each other had earned them both copious amounts of respect from both sides of the war. Some would say that their battles bordered on legendary.

"We must resume the negotiations." suggested Algol, standing up. "Hopefully, they will not have killed each other while we were gone."

Kaguya agreed. "I know."

Algol lifted off from the ground, and began to hover towards the meeting place. "You do realize that this alliance would be temporary." Kaguya said, freezing him in place for a moment.

"That moment is all I would need." Algol replied. "There is no skirting the truth: the ten-tailed beast is a menace that must be put down, and it will be by our combined efforts. But the sad truth is that afterwards, we are still monarchs ruling the same land; in the end, only one of us will rule the world. I've already accepted this fact the day I came to this place, but do not expect me to surrender my kingship to you. I will fight for my ambition to bring peace and unity to this war-torn world and its people."

She knew it was true. Kaguya knew that if she was to bring peace to this world, she would one day have to come into conflict with Algol for a final time to legitimize rule in honorable combat. And knowing how determined he was to hold onto his kingship, she could not blame him. Not when he had the same goal to unite the world and bring peace as she did. It was at times like these that she wished that Algol never came to this world; that way, she would not be forced to kill this king that equalled her in ambition, determination, and willpower. "A shame we had to meet in this life as adversaries."

"A shame indeed." answered Algol. He then hovered away to the negotiations. Kaguya would stay for another five minutes before she too left. The negotiations needed to be settled quickly if they wanted to defeat the ten-tailed monster and save the world from its threat.

…

_**A/N: And there we have it…the first of several flashback chapters that will mark the start of a new arc. A bit short, I will admit; but then again, the point here is to tell the story of Algol and Kaguya separately from Naruto's. It will eventually culminate to their final duel. Let me know how you people think of this arrangement, so do read and review would you kindly?**_


	10. The Beginning of the Road

_**A/N: Relatively short chapter, but I will make things longer next time. Either way, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

{Play: "Dispossession" by Okabe Keiichi, from "Nier"}

[Somewhere in the Uchiha District, several days later]

The calming sound of the stream could be heard as Setsuka sat nearby the water. The Uchiha District was known to have a creek running through it, breathing life to the garden at its heart. It was said that the greenery was created by Senju Hashirama as part of a peace offering to the Uchiha clan, the main part being the construction of the Uchiha Dojo. A solid oak building, grown from white oak acorns along with time-reversing and reinforcement seals provided by the Uzumaki clan, ensured that the dojo could withstand any amount of punishment doled out by the clan in the middle of spars.

Due to its durability, the dojo was used as a war room whenever the village had to deal with enemies within and without; as well as a place to settle disputes via the old-fashioned method of dueling. It also had a temple, where people also came to think while they trained in the Uchiha taijutsu style. Such was the tranquility of this place that it was said that Uchiha Madara came here to fast and meditate before his ill-fated duel with Senju Hashirama.

Setsuka had never been in the dojo too often; it was often locked up tight. Besides, she couldn't bring herself to do so every time she neared it. The muffled voices she heard before the Uchiha Massacre gave her a bad feeling, and put her off from visiting as often as she liked. Fortunately, whoever was in the dojo, saying such disturbing things in such suspiciously low voices was dead now. Heavens forbid if her mother was ever in there, talking about who knows what with those vile people in the dojo.

However, her thoughts about this place had come to a halt when she noticed that Naruto had walked into the area. "Mind if I take a seat?"

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the request. Setsuka patted down on the grass next to her, with Naruto taking it as his cue to have a seat. After the Teamwork Exercise, she was forced to re-introduce herself to the team and the Hokage, starting with her real name. Since then, word about her true identity had spread like wildfire, and so she didn't even bother with the genjutsu anymore; before she knew it, upon leaving the Uchiha District, she was mobbed by parents wishing to marry her off to their sons. "It's actually nice here. I remember the time when I came here after pranking the Uchiha that were mean to me. Your dad included…no offense."

"None taken. I hated him for being an asshole, but he was still my dad."

The two of them sat in silence as the sound of the creek flowing filled the air. "What do you make of yesterday's mess?"

Setsuka chuckled lightly. "I think Sakura would've done us a favor if she actually killed that stupid cat."

Yesterday, Team Seven was assigned to track down Tora, for the fifth time this week. This time, the cat ran through an open street, and Naruto pursued. Luckily, Sakura was on point to capture the cat, and put the demonic feline into a blood choke the way Naruto showed her from his Pankration style. Given how book-smart she was, she managed to close off the blood vessels in the cat's neck long enough to knock her out without snapping her neck or stopping the airways.

"Well, at least it's better than when we reported in for debriefing." When Team Seven brought in Tora, Kakashi began with the debriefing. Midway through the debrief, a little boy burst into the room with a wooden kunai, and tripped on his own overly-long scarf. Setsuka wound up using Tsukihime Shiranui to cut the wooden missile in half as it sailed towards her, while Naruto grabbed the boy by his shirt. A jōnin walked into the room, and angrily revealed that the boy he was manhandling was the Hokage's grandson. She found it particularly hilarious when Naruto performed the "Circus Act" by throwing the arrogant brat to the wall, pinning him there by his clothes with kunai, and throwing a particularly large shuriken into the wall just below his crotch.

After the debriefing was done, Setsuka watched as Naruto was shadowed throughout the Uchiha district by the Hokage's grandson. It was so easy to spot the boy that she had a hard time believing that he'd survive for long in a career as a shinobi. After a quick lesson on the finer points of Naruto's new Oiroke no Jutsu (which she filed away in her mind for possible use later), and an amusing humility lesson to the boy's teacher, Naruto gave the boy a bit of a reality check. She could only hope that the boy took his words to heart. "What did you say to the boy anyway?"

"You saw the whole thing?" asked Naruto, looking at Setsuka as though she'd grown a second head.

"Passed by without saying a word," Setsuka lied easily. She was on the rooftops, looking at them with binoculars. "Neither of you saw me, but I could tell that you two spoke after you gave his teacher a bloody nose."

Seeing nothing wrong with the explanation, Naruto began. "I pretty much told Konohamaru that there's no easy way to being Hokage, and that he had to work hard to do so. I also explained to him that I only got lucky that I now have more advantages to help me out in my goals. He told me he was going to be Hokage; I told him that by the time he became Hokage, I would become king of Hi no Kuni."

"And what did he say to that?"

"He said, and I quote: 'like I'll ever let you be king before I become Hokage!'"

Setsuka laughed loudly. She hadn't laughed like that in a while, and for some reason, Naruto was smiling at her. "Now _that's_ the girl I remember back then."

As things settled down, the two of them allowed the sound of the rushing creek to fill the silence. "So what do you make of the mission we're going on now?" Setsuka finally asked.

"Well, it's better than sticking around here." said Naruto. "You think you're ready?"

"I've spent a good chunk of my time making sure I'm packed up well."

The mission in question had come earlier today after they had finished their job at the Mugenjin Arsenal owned by a family of a kunoichi that Naruto got along well with. The dad was a ginger-haired man with brown eyes that was very clumsy, and the mom was a strict, blue-eyed lady that had a soft center. The family lived with the man's dark-skinned and white-haired older brother and his hot, blonde wife. All of them were skilled weapon-users in one way or another, with the mom Rin being particularly good at sealing jutsu and knife-fighting. The dad, Shirō and his brother Kurō were both adept at using a variety of weapons, but were best as archers, Nitō-ryu fighters and blacksmiths. Kurō's wife Arutoria was by far the best swordswoman of the family, often beating out a lot of shinobi swordsmen with only a wakizashi-style shinai

After a whole day spent helping the family to reorganize the arsenal's inventory and catching up, Naruto decided he'd had enough of D-rank missions, and practically demanded that the Hokage get his team a higher-ranked mission (much to the protest of Iruka). The job they got was a C-rank mission to escort an old bridge-builder back to Nami no Kuni.

"Hopefully it goes well."

"You and me both." said Setsuka, before taking a deep sigh. "Naruto, I wanted to apologize…"

"There's no need, Setsuka," Naruto interrupted. "You probably had a reason to hide your identity, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that you and I have pretty much started over after the exam. All I ask is that you don't hide anything from me anymore; we're a team now, so we need to trust each other."

Setsuka smiled tearfully. She would have a long ways to go before Naruto could fully trust her, but that was okay; she had plenty of time to earn his trust. Standing up, she turned to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto-kun."

"Glad we had a chance to talk." Naruto answered, standing up and leaving. They would need all the rest they could get for tomorrow.

…

{Play: "Cosmos" by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, from "Cowboy Bebop"}

[Near the border of the Uchiha District]

The steps towards the border of the Uchiha District were uneventful, but that was just what Naruto wanted. Shadows followed him from the Hokage Tower; he had a pretty good idea who they worked for, and what they were following him for. After all, he'd just sent word to Danzo that he wanted information.

"You can come out now," said Naruto, stopping after five more steps.

"Impressive senses, my liege." said a shinobi, walking out of the brush with four other shinobi. Their masks identified them all as ROOT ANBU operatives. "Danzo-sama has the information you requested."

"And?"

"The information is classified."

Naruto folded his arms. "Explain yourself."

"That is all I'm allowed to say."

Naruto sighed. It was doubtful he'd be getting much else. "Is Danzo holding out on me?"

"With all due respect, sire," began the ROOT operative, "Part of the reason for this is because he wishes to see how you fare before he decides to work even closer with you. If you should survive, he will respect you enough pledge unconditional loyalty to you. That is also what he's told me to tell you."

"And the other part?"

"We're still looking into it. Most of the shinobi we sent into Nami no Kuni so far have been unable to report back in at all. All signs point to their deaths."

"And that is where not fearing death bites you ROOT guys in the ass." said Naruto, sighing in exasperation. "Because you are so willing to throw your lives away, you don't even try to find a way out to complete your mission. I'm telling you this, not to make light of your sacrifices, but to make a point…that you have to at least relearn that fear of death if you want to make your sacrifices count for anything."

"And what would put the fear of death back into us?" challenged a ROOT operative.

Shortly after he said that, Naruto performed a sweep kick, and pounced on the operative's chest with his fist outstretched. As soon as he landed, the ROOT operative found himself on his back, Naruto's free arm pressing down on his neck and his smashed to pieces with a single punch. The next punch smashed into the operative's face, before Naruto reeled back one last time; as he did, the operative watched as four points started to sprout from his knuckles, extending to a foot long. The ROOT operative closed his eyes, when he heard the sound of something digging into the ground…but no pain. He opened his eyes, and found himself looking to the side, with Naruto's fist-claws just barely missing his ear.

"That's what it takes to put the fear back into you." said Naruto, pulling his fist out, leaving the claws dug into the ground. As he stood back up, he looked on the operative's face. "Hasaki-sensei told me that the trick is to take that fear, and show it that _you're_ the boss, _you're_ in charge. Once you master it, you can turn your fear into that boost of strength you need to get the job done." He then turned his attention back to the remaining ROOT operatives. "Also, I want you guys to tell Danzo that if he pulls this bullshit on me again, I'll have his head on a platter for treason…after that, let's just say that it won't be pleasant what I plan to do to him."

Naruto left the area with the ROOT operatives watching his departing back.

…

{Play: "Labyrinth of Moonlight" by Junichi Nakatsuru, from "Soul Calibur III"}

[Tower of Remembrance, Naruto's mindscape]

Deep within the Tower of Remembrance lay the hidden treasure trove of knowledge that Algol had accumulated during his time as King of Wa. The entirety of the basement floors of the tower is, in essence, a vault containing treasures worth more than gold and silver. Books and scrolls of all shapes and sizes can be found here, with contents that are equally as varied. Secret recipes for the perfect bowl of ramen in scrolls, a bamboo book written by the ancient Chūgoku tactician Sun Tzu on the Art of War, even a tale of two lovers that were separated by fate.

All of this was kept safe, and well-maintained by the scholars of the tower; an army of men and women of knowledge and undying loyalty, whose main purpose was to protect the contents of this library with their lives. Every one of them patrolled the spiralling double-helix walls of the complex as they surrounded a tower of shelved books and scrolls in the middle. In addition to their vast knowledge of the books within, each scholar was more than capable of handling themselves in a fight with the variety of martial arts scrolls catalogued in the library. Such is their knowledge that they could qualify as at least captain-level commanders with the amount of theoretical knowledge at their fingertips.

According to what Kurama heard from Elysium and Inferno, as well as the memories that Naruto was seeing, there was a reason why the tower was erected in Naruto's mindscape: upon his defeat at the hands of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Algol willed himself to become the crystal statue Naruto found him as. While he did this, he immediately sent every one of his loyal followers, living and dead, into Astral Chaos, along with the Tower of Remembrance. This was done so that he could devote his remaining energy and willpower to stopping Kaguya from laying a hand on either of the Soul Swords. When Naruto came around, and became Algol's successor to the throne, he inherited not only the Soul Swords, but his loyal subjects and the wealth of knowledge in the tower.

"And all this belongs to me," Kurama said to herself, an avaricious grin on her face. In her hands was a book of torture machines and techniques that she fully intended to read. She also had a scroll in her hands labelled "The Way of Love," which she found was actually a sex manual. "Well, for now at least. But once I beat Naruto for the throne, I will make use of the knowledge in this book to deny him the sex he would be having in the future."

As she crossed a bridge from one wall to the central tower in the library, she stepped onto a platform inside and waited for it to rise. She paused in her perverted giggling for a moment to register the latest memory that had come from Naruto, before continuing to giggle in earnest. "So it begins. Let's see how you do on this mission, my future little sex slave!"

Kurama was smacked from behind the head. She turned to see that the person that whacked her was a female scholar that had a snarl on her face. "Pipe down! You're in a library!"

…

{Play: "Tristram" by Matt Uelmen, from "Diablo"}

[En Route to Nami no Kuni, the next day]

Team Seven and Kakashi walked at a brisk pace with the client following closely behind. Tazuna was a bespectacled old man with a beard and mustache. He wore a pointed hat to shield himself from the sun, and a backpack with traveling gear. Naruto kept a close eye on the old man, feeling that there was something off about him…as though he were nervous that something would be found out. Nevertheless, he could feel the desperation in him; that was more than enough incentive for Naruto to help out Tazuna, whether or not he was lying to him.

_No need to rush_, he thought to himself, _after all, I can always question him about his suspicious behavior later. In the meantime, I'd better think of a perfect punishment for Danzo if he holds information back from me again._

As he walked through the woods, Naruto could not help but feel a sense of tranquility as the wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves as it breezed past them. The birds chirping away seemed to add to the serenity of the area. All that came to a sudden halt as soon as two shinobi burst out from puddles in the ground. Each wore a claw-tipped gauntlet on their arms that fired chains with kunai in the links that they used to wrap Kakashi in.

{Play: "Rush!" by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts, from "Cowboy Bebop"}

"Setsuka! You handle one, while I handle the other one!" snapped Naruto.

Naruto immediately went to work with Setsuka, pulling out an ulna that pivoted out of his forearm, shaping it into a double-edged sword with a four-foot blade encrusted with a blue crystal. The second he neared one chain, he brought his sword up to slice the chain in one pass before bringing it back down to cut Kakashi free. The remaining shinobi retracted his chain, and watched as Setsuka rushed him, ducking as he swung the claw-tipped fingers of his gauntlet at her head as soon as the chain had completely retracted. She then drew her blade, her sword cutting clean through his knee before bringing her blade back up to cleave into him midway through his abdomen as he fell to the ground. His severed intestines spilled out of the cut made into his side.

Angered by the death of his partner, the remaining shinobi fully extended his blade, many kunai ready to use his chain as a whip. Naruto charged, slicing through one length of the chain as he closed in on the retreating shinobi. Finding a tree, the enemy shinobi pounced off from it, only for Naruto lead with a kick, and following through by slicing the enemy shinobi's arm off with a single downwards stroke. The enemy shinobi cried in pain after hitting a tree, having lost the arm wearing his gauntlet. He then watched as Naruto moved in, fear at the prospect of the finishing blow coming so suddenly. But before Naruto could slice off the surviving shinobi's head, Kakashi caught his forearm in mid-swing. "We still need to question him."

Seeing his point, Naruto nodded in agreement. After all, Danzo withheld information from him (something he never intended to let the old man slide for). Instead, he rested his arm, letting it fall while keeping it at the ready in the event the enemy shinobi decided to attack. "Gozu and Meizu, the 'Oni Kyōdai', chūnin-level Nuke-nin from Kirigakure no Sato. You two obviously didn't come here for a stroll…so what brings a pair of criminals to Hi no Kuni?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" taunted the surviving shinobi, shivering from having his arm cut off.

"He's not kidding," threatened Setsuka, bringing her blade out. "Talk, or you're dead."

"Do it, Leaf-bitch! Let me join my brother in death!"

Setsuka was about to oblige the shinobi when she felt Naruto grabbing her by the shoulder. "I need you and Sakura to hold down his brother's corpse by the shoulders, and his legs." he said. "I want to try something with him. Besides, I doubt he's going to talk unless we try this my way."

Curious as to what it was that Naruto was thinking, Setsuka and Sakura moved to do what Naruto had asked. As they pinned down the corpse by the shoulders, they saw Naruto's free hand engulfed in a whitish blue flame.

"Hold him tight." cautioned Naruto, nearing the corpse's head. "He's gonna be more than lively when he gets back up." He knelt down, and got a good grip on the head with his blazing hand, before letting out a sudden rush of chakra and briefly setting the shinobi's body alight. Once the flames died down, the shinobi's wounds had been healed over, and he was breathing again...much to the shock of everyone present.

Naruto stood back up, wobbling from weariness as he did. "Your brother is alive again, but he won't be for long if you don't start talking."

"You wouldn't dare…"

Before he could finish that sentence, Naruto stabbed the sword into the shinobi's right hand…making the shinobi cry out in pain, while his brother was restrained by Kakashi. It was here that Setsuka and Sakura knew why they were told to hold the corpse down. As he pulled the sword back out, he glanced back at the brother at the tree. "I'll keep stabbing your brother until he dies. And if you still won't talk by then, I'll make what I did to your arm look like just a scratch."

As he wandered around the body of the shinobi on the ground, stabbing at various non-vital areas. While he struggled, Setsuka and Sakura did their best to hold him down. After ten stabs at the shinobi, Naruto found the perfect place at the junction between both legs. He rose his sword above the struggling shinobi's crotch.

"WE WERE HIRED TO KILL THE BRIDGE-BUILDER!" screamed the shinobi at the tree, desperate to stop his brother's suffering. He said that just in time for Naruto's blade to stop a few inches away from the crotch. "WE WERE HIRED TO KILL THE FUCKING BRIDGE-BUILDER! NOW LET MY BROTHER GO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST STOP TORTURING MY BROTHER!"

Naruto dropped his sword, allowing it to disintegrate into nothingness as he turned to face a very nervous Tazuna. "You sure?"

"Oh, he knows exactly why we're after his head." said the shinobi Kakashi was restraining, panting in weariness, "If you want to know the truth, ask him!"

Satisfied with his answer, Kakashi pulled the shinobi out before hitting him behind the head hard enough to knock him out. Setsuka and Sakura did the same for the shinobi on the ground. They then tied them both together with a strong rope, and Naruto finishing the job by engulfing his hand in another blue flame, healing the shinobi he stabbed.

"What did you do to bring that shinobi back to life, Naruto?" asked Sakura, genuinely curious as to what happened.

"It's a trick only I can do, sorta like a kekkei genkai." he answered, "I give up a lot of spiritual chakra so that I can heal wounds and bring back the dead. It's very tiring."

"A useful skill," Kakashi agreed, tying the final knot that bound the Oni Kyōdai together before sending a pigeon to Konoha with a message to pick up the prisoners. Once he was done, he turned his attention to Tazuna; the glare he leveled at the old man, along with his tone, spoke of his displeasure. "You had two chūnin-level nuke-nin after you; this means that the mission should be at least a B-rank, yet you are clearly paying for a C-rank mission. I would think that _now_ is a good time for an explanation, Tazuna."

There was no way out of this, and Tazuna knew it. With a regretful sigh, he looked at the shinobi gathered around him. "Alright. You guys got me. The truth of the matter is, that I would've gone through the proper channels to pay for a B-rank like any other regular person, but the problem was that I only had enough for a C-rank. Times are hard where I'm from, and that was all I could manage. I'm sorry for lying to you guys, but I'm desperate; I don't know who else to turn to."

Kakashi heaved an exasperated sigh before he turned to regard his students. "Well, since the client lied to us, we're not obligated to continue on with the mission; which is why I'm giving you three a vote on what to do."

As the three genin looked to each other for an answer, Naruto looked into Tazuna's eyes. He saw that he wasn't lying about desperately needing help; whoever sent those nuke-nin after him must have really wanted the old man dead. "I say we finish the mission." he finally said. "This is a good experience for us in the future. Besides, I can tell he _really_ needs the help."

"Not to mention that it'd make us look bad." Setsuka added.

"Something I can agree on." finished Sakura.

It was unanimous, they would finish the mission. Kakashi turned his attention back to Tazuna. "It looks like you lucked out, Tazuna. My students are still willing to finish the mission in spite of your deception. However, you will owe us big in the future; are you willing to accept these conditions?"

"Do I have a choice?" asked Tazuna. "I've decided that I would bring shinobi home to protect me, and I've already come too far to go back empty-handed. So yeah, I accept those conditions."

"Then consider Team Seven on your payroll." Kakashi said, with his infamous eye-smile. Team Seven and Tazuna continued down the road. The battles to come would reveal more of Naruto's inheritance from the King of Heroes for his path to kingship.

…

_**A/N: I wonder…what would be a perfect punishment for Danzo attempting treason against Naruto a second time? And it has to be far worse than death.**_

…

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Metacarpals─your knuckle bones, the ones that make up your palm.**_

_**Mugenjin─the name of the shop means "Infinity Blade", and is written as "**__**無限刃"**__**.**_

_**Oni Kyōdai─the Demon Brothers.**_

…

_**Styles used:**_

_**Voldo─Naruto's fist-claws**_

_**Mitsurugi─Naruto's forearm-sword**_

…

_**Cameos/References **_

_**Naruto's "Circus Act"─a type of performance known as the Impalement Arts…where people get knives and arrows thrown at them. Normally performed in the circus.**_

_**Mugenjin Arsenal's operators─I'm pretty sure it should be obvious as to who they are if you follow the Fate series.**_

"_**Just a Scratch"─Monty Python and the Holy Grail**_


	11. Armor of the King

_**A/N: Relatively short chapter, but I will make things longer next time. Either way, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

{Play: "Last Wolf Suite" by Noriyuki Asakura from "Rurouni Kenshin"}

[Somewhere in Konoha]

There was nothing but silence all around as Danzo sat at his desk, reading reports. These were all missions that he'd unofficially accepted, far away from his rival's eyes. This one just so happened to involve yet another failed attempt to steal blueprints to the vaunted Chakra Armor from Yukigakure no Sato. At the very least, the ROOT operatives that he sent there were prudent enough to hide their identities by wearing hitai-ate made it look like Konoha wasn't actively trying to steal the plans.

"You think you're so clever, don't you?" asked Dragon Lady, the rage clear in her calm voice as she stepped out of the shadows.

"Whatever do you mean?" Danzo blithely responded, not taking his attention away from his paperwork. Even though he was not facing her, he could feel that she was thumbing the hilt of her blade.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? We both know that withholding information from your king is tantamount to treason; and if I had my way, I'd have taken your Sharingan-stealing head by now."

"Says the twelve royal guards who are hiding their identities from their own king." shot back Danzo, still focused on the mission reports. "That's right, I've snuck a glance at what you look like under your mask, and I have quite a few theories on who and _what_ the twelve of you _really_ are. Especially you, Madame Dragon; I have pretty good idea why you detest me, and it has little to do with the safety of your king."

If she were disturbed at all by the revelation, the Dragon Lady's snort didn't show it. It was as though she didn't care that Danzo had figured out their identities. "Like that's going to help you. You should already know that we're all stronger than you, Danzo. The only reason you're still alive is because Naruto thinks you are of more use to him alive and as his advisor, than dead. You pull that bullshit on him again, and we will see to it that your treacherous ways will be rewarded accordingly."

He could only grit his teeth in his mind. As much as Danzo didn't want to admit it, but the men and women of Naruto's royal guard were all shinobi of superb skill. He also knew that his old age didn't make his odds against them any better, and so Danzo would be forced to make heavy use of his mind to even be able to keep up. The Dragon Lady alone was formidable enough to at least match up with him should they cross blades, as indicated by their sparring sessions (it was very obvious that she didn't even take him seriously). But if the rest of Naruto's Companions decided to team up on him, the result would potentially be nothing short of overkill whether or not they went all-out. "And what if I decide to tell him what I know?"

The Dragon mask obscured her features, but Danzo could practically feel that sadistic smirk on her face from behind him. "I don't think you need to know that. What you _do_ need to know is that we will reveal our identities and our connection to our king later on. Reveal it to him against our terms, and I'm sure that the T&amp;I department has thousands of ways to make you talk…in a lot of very _humiliating_ ways, and after we hand them the files of all your missions."

…

{Play: "Winter Contingency" by Martin O'Donnell, from "Halo: Reach"}

[Waters of Nami no Kuni]

There was nothing but silence all around, save for an oar breaking through the surface of the water. It'd been a few hours since Team Seven and Tazuna had left the Oni Kyōdai to be picked up by Konoha ANBU teams to be interrogated and imprisoned. Now they were in a rowboat heading towards Nami no Kuni. Everyone prepared for the fight to come, especially Setsuka who took the time to sharpen her iai blade; the rhythmic sound of metal scraping against the whetstone cutting through the mist-shrouded air.

"So, now that we're safe, would you mind telling us why nuke-nin have been hired to kill you?" asked Kakashi. The question had drawn a lot of curiosity from all the students present.

Tazuna sighed in resignation. It just couldn't be helped, and he really _did_ owe these shinobi the truth. "Ever hear of Gato?"

"Of Gato Shipping Co.?" asked Kakashi, "Who hasn't?"

"Well he's set up shop on our island." Tazuna began bitterly, "And since then, he's been turning it into a hellhole. 'There will be a lot of opportunities to make money' he said. Yeah, there _were_ plenty of opportunities to make money, just not for us! The day he set up shop, he began to monopolize everything on the island, imposing a lot of taxes on everyone, and he's not above having his goons committing crimes in broad daylight to get that money. Extortion, kidnapping, murder; you name it, his flunkies have done it."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. "That explains why you're unable to afford a proper B-rank mission, but that still leaves one question: why you?"

"I'm constructing a bridge that would connect Hi no Kuni with Nami no Kuni," Tazuna continued. "Gato knows that at the moment, our whole economy relies on the fact that we need ships to trade with the outside world. The bridge will change all that; with an alternative method of transporting goods and supplies, it will hurt his pocket."

"Why doesn't he just destroy the bridge?" asked Sakura.

The answer she got was Tazuna's snort. "The project's just too damn big for him to do that, and we're almost a quarter of the way to finishing. Just think about it for a second; a big bridge is being built on Nami no Kuni to facilitate trade, and suddenly it's destroyed? That's just going to bring a lot of heat on him from the other Shinobi Nations when he could profit from it! With my death at this stage of the project, he can bring in his own architects and engineers."

It all made sense. With the bridge at its current stage of completion, Gato would need Tazuna dead very soon; and if he took control of the project, he could build toll booths that would charge an arm and a leg just to cross the bridge. _Okay, I'll admit it; if you hadn't withheld information from me about this mission, I probably wouldn't have come_, Naruto thought to himself. _But don't think for a second that I'm going to let you slide for it. And to show you I mean business, I'd better think of the perfect slap on the wrist for you…_

The sound of crunching broke the air as the boat had come to shore. "We're here," said the boatman. "Take care, Tazuna. We're all counting on you."

"Don't mind me, Ichiro," said Tazuna, as the boatman moved to push the boat back into the water. "You get back to safety. If we make it, I'm pretty sure you'll be hearing about it soon."

Ichiro nodded in acknowledgement to Tazuna before disappearing into the mist.

"Well, let's get going." said Kakashi, bringing everyone's attention to him. "The longer we stay here, the more likely we're going to be spotted by enemy shinobi.

…

[In the treetops, roughly an hour later]

The subtle rustle of wind breezing through leaves could be heard as the hunter stalked his prey. His scout had told him that the target would be coming straight home this way; a good choice, as the forest was very easy for outsiders to get lost in. A lot of Gato's thugs have gotten lost in these woods, but the hunter was not your ordinary thug; he was aware of the fact that the terrain was the bridge-builder's only defense from kidnap and assassination attempts. This was why he spent a lot of time familiarizing himself with the land.

After hearing the Oni Kyōdai were arrested and left to rot in Konoha's prisons, the hunter knew that he had to take this job a lot more seriously. Gato, greedy pig that he was, obviously had no tolerance for failure. Were it not for the fact that he _really_ needed the money, he would've just killed the disgusting sewer rat and robbed him for all that he had.

As he waited patiently, his waiting had finally paid off: the bridge-builder was walking on down the dirt road, and he was not alone. Following him were two kunoichi and a shinobi, their age marking them as obvious genin. One of the kunoichi had a sword, while the other seemed to be a bookish sort. The boy on the other hand, had carried himself a with a regality that was in its early stages; like he was well on his way to gaining power. They were small fry to be sure, but even he knew not to underestimate targets; after all, he was not even a genin when he committed the atrocity that made his name legend in Kiri.

However, there was one noticeable individual that was in the group. He had a broom-haired appearance, and his Konoha hitai-ate being worn like an eyepatch over his left eye. A mask hugged the curves of his face below his nose. The flak jacket he wore, as well as the way he carried himself screamed jōnin in at least a thousand languages to the hunter. _Hatake Kakashi,_ he thought to himself, _no wonder the Oni Ky_ō_dai failed. He will be a most worthy opponent indeed…_

With that last thought on mind, the hunter vanished from his perch. It was time to say 'hello.'

…

[At the forest floor]

It was a very ominous atmosphere as Team Seven escorted their client through the woods. They all understood that this was the safest way for Tazuna to take home. The problem was that the mist also hid dangers from them, but Tazuna had already assured them that Gato's thugs were all foreigners to this land; he'd heard word that a lot of them were lost in the woods and killed by the wildlife. Add to the fact that there were very likely other shinobi in Gato's employ, and it was the same as if they were walking out in the open with targets on their backs.

The sound of a twig snapping in a bush had caught Naruto's attention, before he threw a kunai at the source of the noise. There was a loud 'thunk' as the tip of the blade dug into a tree.

"What's wrong?" asked Kakashi.

"My reflexes kicked in," said Naruto, moving in to investigate. He parted the branches of the bush, and widened his eyes in shock. There was a terrified white rabbit with a kunai right above its head. He grabbed the rabbit by the scruff of its neck, and began petting it gently in his arms. "Sorry about that, false alarm."

Kakashi sighed in exasperation at Naruto's impulsive action. _I wonder,_ he thought to himself, _at this season, a rabbit should've shed its winter coat…that means it's been kept indoors, which in turn means…_

His eye had widened in realization, and just in time for him to hear something whipping in the air. "Everybody duck!"

At those two words, everybody ducked as a massive blade twirled out from nowhere with the intent of slicing their heads off. The blade dug itself into the trunk of a nearby tree, before someone landed on the hilt. His torso was bare, but he wore bandages that hid the lower half of his face, arm warmers, a pair of urban camouflage pants. As he turned around, one could see that the crest inscribed on his hitai-ate designated him as someone from Kirigakure no Sato.

"Momochi Zabuza…" Kakashi muttered to himself, upon recognizing the nuke-nin.

"Hatake Kakashi." Zabuza said, looking back down on the group of five from below his shoulder. "And his three brats. I didn't think you'd settle down and start teaching, Hatake."

"You'd be surprised."

"Heh. Oh, you'll be surprised, alright." Zabuza chuckled, before turning his attention to the rabbit in Naruto's hands. He took in a deep breath, and shouted one word at the rabbit: "TNT!"

{Play: "Burning Colosseum" from "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Part 2: Battle Tendency"}

At that one word, the rabbit seemed to be going through a transformation as it jittered in Naruto's hands. He managed to catch the creature just in time as it jumped up in an attempt to gnaw at his neck. This rabbit also happened to be rather strong, as it managed to knock down Naruto.

Seemingly frustrated by its failed attempt to kill him, the rabbit pounced on Setsuka, the Uchiha girl barely having enough time to move her hands up. The rabbit bit down on her forearm, and would have continued to gnaw away at her arm had Naruto not run up, pulled it off of her, and thrown it into a tree. The rabbit broke managed to shift its weight around, land with all feet on the tree, kick off, and attempt to bite into a screaming Sakura's neck until Setsuka drew her blade, smacking it in the head with the butt of her sword. "Damn it! What the hell is wrong with this rabbit?!"

Zabuza's laughter could be heard from the treetops as the rabbit wreaked havoc on Team Seven. "I've given that rabbit a taste of meat. Add a little bit of genjutsu-induced hypnosis and some training with chakra, and we have ourselves an animal assassin, slash kawarimi double." Once he was satisfied with the fact that the rest of the genin were preoccupied with trying to protect the client, Zabuza dislodged the massive sword and allowed himself to drop. His massive blade would have filleted Kakashi, were it not for the jōnin reinforcing his kunai with chakra, and fighting back.

Meanwhile, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven were having a hard time fighting off the rabbit and protecting the client. Tazuna was smart enough to get down, so as not to get in the way of the fight; that and he was afraid that the rabbit would come for him next. Naruto, frustrated by the rabbit's attempt to kill them, allowed his skin to split and crystallize over the major muscle groups in his body while exposing the muscles underneath in between each gap. The rabbit knew by instinct that Naruto was the most dangerous of the three genin, and made for the exposed muscles in his throat; only to be hit with a lucky punch that knocked it out.

"Everyone okay?" he asked, still in his armored form.

"We're fine." Sakura answered, unable to comprehend what it was that she was seeing, until she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of metal blades clashing.

Everyone turned to see Kakashi battling with Zabuza as he parried away the latter's massive sword swings with a kunai and attempting to cut into him. The fight was fairly even with Zabuza taking advantage of his strength to keep Kakashi in the defensive, while Kakashi always sought out an opening to begin his offensive. After finding an opening to kick Zabuza in the face, Kakashi waited until his opponent was a good distance away before turning his attention to his students. "Everyone, protect Tazuna with your lives!"

"How long do you think your students will last?" taunted Zabuza, standing back up. "Sure, they managed to get past my killer rabbit, but will they survive a round against me?" As he spoke, his hands flew through hand-seals before landing in a final one. "Kirigakure no Jutsu."

Once the jutsu was complete, the mist was made even thicker. "Everyone, Manji formation!"

Naruto, Sakura, and Setsuka stood at the ready surrounding Tazuna. Naruto was still in his crystal armor, his fists ready for action should Zabuza pop out of the mist with. Setsuka had her hand on the hilt of Tsukihime Shiranui, ready to go for his knees. Sakura on the other hand, simply had a kunai at the ready to fight off as best she could.

Tensions rose as everybody waited, hoping that Zabuza was not in the area. Their hopes were dashed as soon as they heard his voice. "Eight points." he said, his voice cutting through the mist, "Heart, lung, kidney, stomach, subclavian artery, spine, brain, jugular. Eight major kill zones on the human body…I wonder which one I'll get to first? Heh, heh, heh, heh."

As his laughter rang through the air, one could feel Zabuza's killing intent penetrating the thick mist and coming in from all directions. Setsuka tried her best to remain calm, but she soon found herself trembling in absolute terror as to how and when Zabuza would strike. She was about to dig into a pouch at the small of her back for a kunai to...

"Setsuka, calm down," said Naruto, catching her off guard with his flanging voice, "No matter what happens, I'll protect you."

Those reassuring words had done their work. Setsuka let out a calming sigh before readying her blade for action.

"Nice try boy, but you are preaching to the wrong choir!" Zabuza taunted, his voice very clear; he'd infiltrated their defensive perimeter. He swung his massive blade down on Naruto, only for Naruto to step aside just in time for the blade to dig into the ground.

"Not bad," said Naruto, recovering just in time to grab the greatsword by the hole near the tip of the blade and on the spine, "But I know of fighters who could use that sword better than you."

Zabuza was about to ask what he meant, but he noticed that the areas Naruto had touched began to crack and glow with a reddish energy, while it was also being encrusted with blue crystals that grew on the surface over the vein-like cracks on the sword. Zabuza remained speechless about the whole affair, as Naruto pulled the sword out of the ground, jabbed his opponent in the stomach with the pommel. Giving his opponent no opportunity to fight back, he looped the hilt into the area between his legs and smacked him in the balls with a single pull up. Zabuza managed to perform a Kawarimi just in time for Naruto to swipe the hilt across his face to reveal nothing but water.

As he disappeared into the mist to recover from the groin attack, Zabuza watched as his zanbatō was now encrusted in the blue crystal, and seemed to be pulsing red underneath the crystals. Even more unbelievable was that the brat he was fighting against was wielding his sword with just one hand. The massive sword was now sporting an eye that was focusing its violet iris on him from near the notch on the blade. "And this is just one swordsman's style I'm calling forth."

"Not bad, brat. I guess I took you too lightly if you were able to take my sword from me," said Zabuza, his voice once again coming from all directions, "But how good of a fighter are you really?"

Naruto held his ground, waiting for the right opportunity to fight back. "Setsuka, he's probably going to find a way to get his sword back, so keep an eye open. Sakura, you and Tazuna stay low. We need to hold him off until Kakashi-sensei shows up."

The sound of something whistling in the air had caused Naruto's reflexes to kick into action, commanding his body to turn around quickly, and grab the hilt of a kunai that was sailing into the back of his head. He then used that kunai to block three more kunai, before using the zanbatō to block and cut through another storm of kunai. He then began catching, juggling, and throwing the kunai back to their points of origin, hoping to hit Zabuza somewhere in the mist.

Setsuka kept the guard up in Naruto's blind spots, her iai blade moving smoothly and seamlessly to cut at kunai and shuriken that would have attempted to stab him. All the while, she kept her eyes open on his movements so as not to get cut or bisected. This also allowed her an opportunity to see into his fighting style; he was fighting with that massive blade like he'd been using it all his life, the same with all the kunai that he was catching and throwing back.

Eventually, the storm of blades had come to a stop and Zabuza had managed to land a kick on Naruto's armored face, knocking him back. As Naruto staggered backwards, Zabuza retrieved his sword and would have succeeded in smashing Naruto against a tree he'd backed up against with the face of his now-normal blade, had Kakashi not appeared out of nowhere to stab the man in the back. Once again, Zabuza had splashed into water before reappearing, bisecting Kakashi in one pass with his massive blade to reveal that he too was a Mizu Bunshin. All in all, the fight had become so high-paced that the two jōnin-level shinobi were only able to reveal themselves as Mizu Bunshin.

As Zabuza and Kakashi fought, Setsuka noticed that his hitai-ate was raised. Once she spotted them up close, and was shocked to notice that Kakashi's right eye was a Sharingan. To her knowledge, only Uchiha had the Sharingan; and although the scar over his eye seemed to tell the story, she wanted to hear for herself why her sensei had one. Perhaps, she could even ask him for some extra training on the Sharingan since he was obviously capable of using it; assuming of course they survived past today. But for now, she needed to help Naruto and Sakura guard the client.

Meanwhile, Zabuza and Kakashi stared each other down. The surprise beatdown Naruto had dished out on him had caused the nuke-nin to expend energy trying to recover, making Zabuza's attacks sloppier. Kakashi drew a second kunai, ducked under a swing of the greatsword, and stabbed Zabuza in the abdominals only to see that his target was yet another Mizu Bunshin as it exploded into a splash of water. Zabuza was able to find an opening in order to sucker-punch Kakashi into a pond. He was able to use his chakra control to allow him to stand on the water, but Kakashi realized too late that the water was too heavy. Before he could escape, a bubble of water had engulfed Kakashi instantly as Zabuza surfaced from the pond with one hand on the bubble.

"Let's see you get out of this now!" Zabuza taunted. He then turned his attention to the genin of Team Seven. "Now then…to do my job." As he spoke, another Mizu Bunshin had formed from the pond water, wielding its own copy of Zabuza's zanbatō. It began to stalk forward, a grin on its masked face.

"Everybody, take Tazuna and run! You're no match for a shinobi of his level!" shouted Kakashi from the bubble.

{Play: "Rage of Sparta" from "God of War III"}

"Not a chance," said Naruto, commanding his left right ulna bones to duplicate themselves. "This guy is going down one way or another." As he finished his sentence, Naruto pulled out both bones from his arms, and then commanded them to form a pair of short and heavy, single-edged blades. One of them was made of a red crystal with a violet eye peeking out from near the hilt, while the other was made of a blue crystal with a sphere near the hilt. Both short-swords were connected to his arms by the pommels with cords presumably made from his blood vessels, tendons, ligaments and even nerve and muscle fibers. The cords were then pulled out from slits in his arm under his elbows.

"Setsuka," he said, taking the opportunity the shake off the pain from making his new weapons as the Uchiha girl turned her attention to him, "How good are you with that blade?"

Setsuka had no idea where he was going with this, but decided to humor him. "I'm still learning, but suffice to say I'm good enough."

Naruto smiled. "Then follow me. We're gonna free Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto and Setsuka rushed forward, with the former in the lead. He stopped mid-way to throw both of his short blades at the Mizu Bunshin, allowing the cords attached to his arm to reel forward. The Zabuza-clone blocked both blades, but Naruto grabbed both cords, and began swinging them around. The clone was forced back as the whip-like actions of Naruto's swings kept it in the defensive; because it was focused on blocking the quick strikes, it could not fight back.

Seeing her cue, Setsuka stepped on Naruto's shoulders, and used him as a springboard to propel her forward. She timed her steps just right, occasionally ducking and jumping over the cords and the 'blades of chaos' to avoid getting tripped by Naruto as he kept the clone busy. When she got close enough, Naruto stopped his whipping, allowing the bunshin to begin its attack with a horizontal slash. Setsuka drew her blade, leaped over the zanbatō and off the face of its blade, and finished off with a single slash across the clone's throat.

They were far from done, as Naruto leaped over Setsuka with both blades in hand, cords retracted, and continuing to run towards the pond. The second he neared the water, he lashed both whips together in such a manner that the cords and the blades formed a pincer maneuver going for Zabuza's head at high speed. The only way out for him was to backstep, which was exactly what Naruto was counting on.

As soon as he let go of the bubble, Kakashi was freed. The two shinobi were a good distance from each other, each one matching ninjutsu with ninjutsu as they fought on the surface of the water. The first jutsu that was used, "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu," created a pair of water dragons that swirled around, and eventually crashed into each other. The second jutsu was used only by Kakashi, creating a tsunami that tossed Zabuza and everyone else about.

Team Seven found enough sense throughout the flood to get to high ground, with Naruto helping Sakura get Tazuna to safety on the treetops. Setsuka followed closely by, knowing that she needed to take care of herself now that the client was safe.

When the tsunami had died down, Zabuza was washed up against a tree before he was finally lowered to the ground. After a few seconds of coughing the water out of his lungs, he found himself screaming in pain as a pair of kunai pierced his shoulders. "You're finished, Zabuza." said Kakashi, stalking towards him with another kunai. "Any last words?"

Zabuza gnashed his teeth in pain as he glared up at Kakashi. "Yeah, two in fact: Fuck you!"

Before he could cut the man down, a pair of senbon had embedded themselves in Zabuza's neck. Kakashi looked around, and found himself looking at a Hunter-Nin from Kirigakure. There were no features on the operative's mask, save for a swirl of red, and the Kirigakure crest on the forehead. She also had the unconscious 'white rabbit of death' in her arms. "I thank you for dealing with Zabuza for me." she said, reaching down to heft Zabuza up over her shoulder. "I'd been tailing him for a while now."

"It's an honor." said Kakashi.

"With that, I'll take my leave." Without another word, the Hunter-Nin leaped off into the wilderness. As he watched the operative disappear into the darkness, Kakashi had an odd feeling about the situation at hand; he just couldn't put a finger on what. However, all thoughts were cut short as soon as he blacked out.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

…

{Play: "Decapre" by Hideyuki Fukasawa, from "Ultra Street Fighter IV"}

[Elsewhere in the woods]

The Hunter-nin leaped through the forest with Zabuza and the rabbit in tow. She needed to move quickly, but without exasperating the wounds that the man suffered. By her estimates, the rabbit would be fine, but it would take at least a week for him to recover. She also had a list of herbs she needed to procure to speed up the healing process for Zabuza.

As she thought back on the shinobi team that defeat her charges. The pinkette was practically useless, but Hatake Kakashi was indeed a worthy opponent for Zabuza, and seemed to be capable of matching him move for move. The black-haired girl with the sword had a lot of potential; combine that with her speed, and she was a very deadly adversary. Her train of thought had eventually gone to the boy that created weapons from his body, and made her wonder if he had any association with the now-dead Kaguya clan.

Regardless, she had a man to heal, and a long story to tell. Fortunately, Gato would be smart enough to stay away…there was no doubt in her mind that Zabuza would be in a _very_ bad mood today.

…

_**A/N: If anyone is wondering why Naruto is fighting like Berserker Lancelot, that's because Soul Calibur and Soul Edge grant him a style not unlike "Knight of Honor: A Knight does not die with Empty Hands" where he can steal weapons and use them like an extension of his body. You'll see how far it can be taken later on.**_

…

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**Ulna─your forearm bone, the one that makes up your elbow**_

…

_**Styles used:**_

_**Kubikiribocho─a bit of medieval longsword fighting, and a bit of Nightmare**_

_**Chained Blades─Kratos of Sparta**_

…

_**Original Jutsu:**_

_**Ō no Yoroi: Meiyo("**__**王の鎧：名誉"**__**)─In Ō no Yoroi, Naruto creates a suit of armor from his integumentary system (his skin and hair) using Soul Calibur, which grants him a natural suit of armor. With the "Meiyo" form, Naruto focuses more on stealing weapons, and using his memories to use them more effectively. It could be an iron street lamp, or even something as mundane as a fork; he just needs to recognize it as a weapon for this jutsu to work.**_

…

_**Cameos/References **_

_**Zabuza's white rabbit─from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Honestly, why hasn't anyone thought to do this with that rabbit? In real life, rabbits are plenty vicious…once I heard of rabbits in NY that have been eating chicken wings.**_

_**Naruto's armored form─pretty much inspired by Reiner Braun's Armored Titan form, and Berserker's armor from "Fate/Zero"**_

_**Naruto's use of Kubikiribocho─the medieval European technique of 'half-swording'. This is normally done with longswords against knights that are in armor, and requires the practitioner to hold the sword by the blade (swords were dull back then). Techniques include aiming your sword with one hand to stab your enemy in the chinks of his armor, grabbing the sword by the blade and using the guard as a hammer, and even hitting them across the face with the hilt.**_

_**TNT─Both an AC/DC reference, and in reference to the fact that "that rabbit is dynamite."**_


	12. Penalties

_**A/N: And it is finally out. Do read and review, would you kindly? And please keep it classy.**_

…

[Zabuza's hideout]

The air was murderous in the safehouse as Zabuza stared up at the ceiling, hateful thoughts brewing in his mind. Part of it was directed at Kakashi, but a good amount of it was for the boy that humiliated him with his own sword. What made it worse was that due to the fact that he still had a long ways to go before recovering, he wouldn't be getting his revenge anytime soon. Scratch that, that wasn't the worst thing that was simmering away in his mind―that honor went to the visitor he was having at the moment.

"Hey, Zabuza! What're you doing here?" came the guttural voice of Gato, snickering away at Zabuza's bedridden form. "I paid you to kill the bridge-builder, not to lay down here and lick your wounds!"

Zabuza said nothing, only continuing to stare at the ceiling. The amount of laughter had told the nuke-nin that the businessman was not alone; in fact, he thought he'd heard at least ten men in the crowd. Just great.

Gato rose his cane to poke Zabuza in the face. "Hey! I'm fucking talking to—"

Before Gato could say a word, Haku had landed out from nowhere, and gripped onto the forearm holding the cane with a lot of force. "Don't you dare touch Zabuza-sama, you disgusting pig!"

"What're you waiting for?! Kill that bitch!"

"TNT!"

In response to Haku's command, a white blur had shot out from a pile of bones before finding its target on a mercenary's throat. It was revealed to be a white rabbit, quickly chewing on the poor man's neck before he fell to the ground dead. His head had hit the ground first as the rabbit chose its next target, chewing through another mercenary's throat.

"I'm a power-load!"

Haku's command this time had caused the rabbit to rebound off another mercenary's face, before rapidly chewing through his stomach muscles and his organs. Shortly after that, the rabbit burst through the man's chest.

"TNT!"

The rabbit continued its assault, moving in to attack two more men in the throat by snipping their carotid arteries with its teeth.

"Watch me explode!"

After the final command, the rabbit had bounded back and into Haku's arms just as she'd thrown a volley of senbon at its would-be targets. By the end of the assault, only five mercenaries remained alive…until two bled to death from Haku's needles hitting them in very vital areas. All in all, three mercenaries remained while Haku pet the rabbit in her arms. "I wouldn't push it. I'm already in a bad mood, and Angus here is also hungry for more meat."

Gato managed to get back up on his feet, facing Zabuza and Haku with the most sinister snarl on his face. "This is your last chance, fucker! The bridge-builder had better be dead by the time I see you next time, or I'll have your head!" he then turned his attention to Haku as she fiddled around with the rabbit. The white furball in her arms was very tame and playful…nothing like the man-eating beast that had decimated most of Gato's mercenaries moments ago. "As for you girlie, I'll have your ass and your pussy sold at a premium to Kumogakure!"

Having said his peace, Gato had ordered his mercenaries to follow him. They didn't bother trying to collect the bodies; they were too scared to take the rabbit's food away.

"You really didn't need to do that, Haku." Zabuza growled. "I could've handled them myself."

Haku knew that he felt no small amount of shame in the fact that he was rescued by his own pupil and her killer-rabbit. Then again, she'd just made sure that Zabuza didn't need to use the kunai he'd hidden away under his blankets. "If I didn't jump in, your wounds would've opened up," she said, heading behind a partition to change. "You're almost halfway recovered, there's no need to rush if you want to fight that boy again."

"Yeah well, I do owe him for beating me up with my own sword."

Haku stepped outside the partition, wearing a pink kimono. "I'll be back. I need to get some herbs to aid in your recovery. And please don't provoke Angus again; unless you'd like for him to eat you while I'm gone?"

Zabuza glanced off to the side to see the white rabbit looking back at him with his 'innocent rabbit eyes'. He shot back with his own dirty glare, teeth clenched under his bandages. Angus had been getting away with attacking the jōnin with that look several times now; and for eating his food too. Every day he saw the rabbit doing the so-called 'wai-wai no jutsu' as he dubbed, Zabuza kept thinking of finally getting to taste rabbit stew in revenge for making Haku think he's just an adorable little rabbit.

"So long as that little bastard doesn't start shit with me, we'll get along fine." he bit out through clenched teeth.

With an exasperated sigh, Haku walked out the door while Angus went to work on the carcasses of the mercenaries he'd killed. "Remember to play nice you two."

…

{Play: "Breeze" by Daisuke Ishiwatari from "BlazBlue Song Accord #2 with Continuum Shift II"}

[Somewhere in Nami no Kuni, a few days later]

Crows cawed as the morning mist of Nami no Kuni began to settle in. The air of death from the restless souls of those Gato had killed during his reign of terror permeated the atmosphere. If one listened closely, their cries could be heard. It would've been a cacophony of demands for justice, vengeful gnashing of teeth and even unanswered pleas for the living to take action.

It was very busy over the past week as Naruto sat up against a tree, hunched over and sleeping with a blue crystal longsword propped up against him. After Kakashi's assessment that Zabuza would be fighting again within a week, he had trained hard with Setsuka and Sakura to learn the intricacies of chakra control via the tree-climbing technique. It was something he was most thankful for, because he was noticing the difference between now and before. Not only was he able to give more refined shapes to the weapons he made, but he now found the manufacturing process to be more efficient on chakra expenditure and less painful.

This did not mean he shirked his basic weapon training. Every hour or so, he spent time sparring with Setsuka using a variety of weapons…including a flexible, one-handed sword he made from his spine. He was new to the weapon type, which gave Setsuka the advantage in their spars, but it made him more versatile when learning to use a sword that relied on deft footwork to impale his opponents.

Just a few hours ago, he had just finished practicing his kata with the sword until he was too tired to swing it around anymore. Naruto didn't like Tazuna's grandson Inari much, given how the brat's negativity was grating on his nerves; but the story he'd been told about the boy's father Kaiza gave him a bit of understanding as to why he was being so bratty. Because of this, he was more than determined to perfect his swordplay so that he could show him that heroes did in fact exist.

His dreaming was cut short when he felt killing intent being fired in his direction. Lightning-fast reflexes from hard training under Edge Master had kicked in. In the span of three seconds, Naruto was wide awake, sword in hand and blade sailing through the air until it came to a stop at a neck. He was able to halt the blade as it touched the target, allowing him to get a good look at his 'assailant.'

It was a girl with pale skin and raven tresses that went down to the bottom of her rib cage. Her chocolate eyes were wide in fear as the edge of his crystal blade touched the skin of her neck. The two of them were frozen; the girl in fear, and Naruto in curiosity as he took in more features of the girl. She wore a pink kimono that protected her modesty, while also hugging her alluringly slim features and cut short halfway up her thighs…given enough time to grow, she would be mistaken for a yuki-onna.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto. He gently pressed the edge of his sword into her neck without breaking the skin upon seeing her twitch. "This sword may be dull, but it has more than enough mass in the blade to cut. Now who are you?"

"I'm Haku," the girl finally answered, "I came here looking for medicinal herbs for my friend."

Naruto's gaze had briefly found the basket, which supported her claim of searching for herbs. Hasaki-sensei had drilled into him the importance of learning how to survive out in the wilds, which meant taking him out into the wilderness during the two-week breaks from school. The two of them had no tools or supplies save for a knife and whatever it was that nature provided for food and medicine. Unsurprisingly, Hasaki-sensei also brought his plethora of weapons to make sure Naruto stayed in practice with his sparring and weapons manufacturing.

The plants he saw at the bottom of the basket were indeed medicinal herbs, so she was telling the truth there. And yet, Naruto could not help but think something was off. Nevertheless, he extricated the blade from Haku's throat, allowing the girl to breathe a sigh of relief from almost getting killed. "You need any help?"

Haku smiled pleasantly. "That's nice, but your company is enough."

As the mist began to settle, Naruto and Haku traveled cautiously through the woods, keeping close to the clearing. He kept his longsword shouldered and an eye out for any of Gato's thugs as Haku picked her herbs. Quite a few of those goons had been killed by Naruto, some of whom were in the middle of raping villagers; their souls were absorbed thanks to the Soul swords merging with his body, waiting to be used for whatever purpose he saw fit.

"So what are shinobi doing here?" Haku finally asked, her attention on a tree that she was using a knife to strip bits of bark off of.

"We're here to protect a client." Naruto supplies, watching Haku's movements carefully. He had a suspicion, but he wanted to test the waters a bit. "He's got quite a hit squad after him."

"Does he?"

Now was the chance to probe even deeper. "Yeah, including a few shinobi. One of them in particular was an eyebrow-less freak that didn't strike me as a good fighter at all."

It was very subtle, but Naruto thought he'd seen her twitch in response to the last remark. If she knew anything about it, then she showed no signs of it. This was helped by the fact that she had her back to him. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, the fact that he hides in the mist like a pussy instead of coming out to fight like a real man for one." Naruto continued, hoping to make the girl trip up some more. "Honestly, I think that sword is just there to hide the fact that he's lacking somewhere, you know what I mean?"

"I honestly can't say." Haku answered, her voice very level.

Naruto was determined to not give up. He had his suspicions, and he was going to make sure they were dead-on before running off to Kakashi-sensei with this girl. Just in case, he tightened the grip on his sword should things get messy. "And it gets worse; looks like we're going to be fighting that cowardly bitch again after all, and he won't be alone this time. A Hunter-nin pretty much just jumped in and rescued him before Kakashi-sensei could kill that guy."

No response, but he didn't dare relax his grip on the sword. "Sounds like you're going to have your work cut out for you."

"No doubt about it." Naruto agreed, keeping a close eye on her. He loosened his grip on his sword, but just enough so that he could bring it to bear at a moment's notice. "Especially the fake hunter-nin. She looked like a much better fighter than the cowardly prick that calls himself a zabatō master."

Haku let out an amused chuckle. "You seem determined. That's good…though, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Do you have any precious people?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow to the question. "What do you mean?"

"People that you value above your own life. You care for them so much that you're willing to die to protect them."

The question itself had hit a chord Naruto in his heart. But it was still a question he had a good answer for. "I do. I have people that I care about so much, that if I didn't run into them, I probably would've just ended it all a long time ago. And now that the list keeps getting bigger, it's hard but worth every minute…especially now that I have people willing to return the favor."

Haku stood up, checking up every herb in the basket. Satisfied with what she found, she beckoned Naruto to follow her back to where she found him. "That's good. People are always much stronger when they have something to protect."

"This friend of your that kind of person?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. He found me when I was at my lowest point. Like you, I probably would've ended it all were it not for him; I guess you could say, I look at him like a father." Haku turned to face Naruto with a sincere grin on her face, having already reached the clearing. "Thanks for sharing. It's not often that I get to speak with someone like this for so long."

Naruto stepped aside to allow Haku to pass. The second she took a few steps away, she paused for a moment. "By the way, I'm a boy."

Letting out an amused snort, Naruto waited until she was at the edge of the clearing before cupping his hands around his mouth. "I would've believed you if I didn't notice the sarashi you were wearing under that kimono!"

Haku froze for a moment, turning red at his words before disappearing into the woods. When he was satisfied that she was out of earshot, Naruto let out a relieved sigh. "You think she's hiding something?"

As if in response to his question, the sound of a jutsu being dispelled followed by footsteps approaching revealed that there was someone hiding in the area. "Of course she is, milord." said a feminine voice from behind, as Naruto turned to face the speaker. The hooded, off-white jacket she wore marked her as one of his Companions. Her face was hidden behind the beshimi mask, which indicated that she was the 'knife nut' of his royal guard due to the knuckle-dusters she used to threaten Danzo's balls. Something about her voice seemed familiar, but he just could not put a finger as to where they met. "She's good, but not as good as we are."

"So, Beshimi. How goes Danzo's punishment?"

Beshimi snorted. "At any minute now, Danzo's going to get his slap on the wrist…if we're lucky, he'll have learned his lesson about committing treason and won't ever do it again."

…

{Play: "Last Wolf Suite" by Noriyuki Asakura, from "Rurouni Kenshin"}

[Somewhere in Konoha, morning]

Danzo sat in his usual spot in the Konoha Art Gallery, looking at the paintings as per his usual routine. Well, it would have been usual, if the artworks that adorned the gallery were not part of the serial art thefts that hit every other gallery in Konoha. According to the morning paper, nobody was able to catch the thief, or thieves in the act. Somehow, he had a feeling that his day was going to get hard…and what made it even worse was that he couldn't even enjoy any artwork until the art thief had been caught.

"Mind if I sit next to you?" asked a voice to the left.

He sighed, knowing exactly who it was that had come to see him. Very few people would come to Danzo as an equal, but he would see to it that his worthy opponent would be given the respect he deserved. In any case, when the Hokage asks to sit next to you, you allow him to sit next to you; even he knew that. "What do you want, Hiruzen?"

"I just got an anonymous tip," began the Hokage, taking a seat next to Danzo. "I have a pretty good idea as to who the art thief is."

Nothing special about an art thief. But something about the thefts bothered Danzo…especially since the thief, or thieves, left no evidence of their crime. All the same though, he was very curious. "Did you?"

"Yes we did. And in all honesty, I never did see this coming…then again, the signs _were_ there. So tell me Danzo, exactly how long have you been planning this robbery?"

Danzo did a double-take, looking at his rival with his eye wide open in shock. "I beg your pardon?"

"Don't make me repeat myself." said Hiruzen, not even bothering to face Danzo. "All the artworks have been found in a safe house that hid twenty ROOT operatives that had just come back from a _very_ illegal mission. It's bad enough that you managed to get away with the biggest art theft in the village, but to know that your ROOT cell is still active? Even after I disbanded it a long time ago? I seriously hope you have a good explanation for this."

He just could not believe it. It was very obvious that Danzo was being framed for this crime. And on top of that, he had to explain himself to Hiruzen as to why ROOT was still active. Could the day get any worse?

Now that he thought on it, and if his suspicions were correct, then this was his punishment. _Is this what true loyalty is like?_ he asked himself, snorting with an amused grin on his face, _If so, then I can only tip my hat off to you, Naruto. You have loyal bodyguards who have executed this plot flawlessly. _

…

[Tazuna's House, Evening]

Kakashi sat in the house, enjoying his signed copy of "Icha Icha Paradise" with a mug of tea on hand. He'd just been given plenty of time to recover and free himself of the crutches he was provided while still weakened. There would be time to get his muscles and chakra coils back into shape, but for now he needed to relax and take it easy. After all, this was a kissing-scene he just could not miss in the book.

{Play: "Immortals" by Fall Out Boy, from "Big Hero 6"}

The sound of blades clashing against each other brought him out of his blissful reading. That combined with the sporadic use of kiai had told him that Naruto and Setsuka were sparring yet again. And after he'd told them both to hold off on the weapons until they'd gotten better. Ah well, perhaps now was the time to take a break anyway. Kakashi let out an exasperated sigh as he slid out of his seat, and walked towards the backyard.

Sure enough, Sakura stood nearby with Tazuna right next to her as Naruto and Setsuka sparred against each other; the former wielded a four-foot tsurugi that was long enough to be effective in two hands while still balanced enough to be usable in one, while the other wielded her mother's three-foot iai blade. The two of them swung their blades around, with Naruto's heavier sword being obviously suited for open combat, while Setsuka's iai blade had to be handled in a reverse-grip when it wasn't being used for its intended purpose of cutting victims down in a single draw. It was also seen that Naruto's fighting style with his longsword was direct and with a lot of force behind the swing, making heavy use of instinct and quick reflexes to recover from missed attacks and counter with a free hand. Setsuka on the other hand relied more on cunning and deft footwork to put herself in a position for more vital targets while trying to avoid Naruto's cuts and thrusts, and his grabs and punches. All in all, it looked more like a battle to the death than a sparring match.

Setsuka had just found an opening, parrying away Naruto's blade and quickly slashing at him and forcing him back up against a tree. As she charged into him Naruto raised his leg just in time to kick Setsuka and push her away, buying him enough time to back-flip and plant his chakra-lined feet to the trunk before she could pin him to the tree. Standing on the trunk, Naruto continued to slash and thrust at Setsuka, before she jumped onto another tree, rebounded and planted her feet on the same trunk that Naruto was fighting her from.

From that, Kakashi just had to give them both credit. It wasn't easy to do the tree-climbing exercise, and yet these two had managed incorporate their sparring matches into the lesson. This was something only an advanced student could muster the strength to do; in addition to keeping their feet to the surface in question, the duelist also had to remember that their fight was now no longer limited to the ground. Walls, ceilings, anywhere where one could get a foothold really; all that's needed now would be a machine that enhanced maneuvers in three dimensions…a sort of 3D maneuvering gear in other words.

Either way, he was impressed. Especially as Kakashi saw both Naruto and Setsuka jumping from tree to tree, continuing the battle from different trunks and different angles. "That's enough!" he called out from below, catching both of their attentions mid-swing. "While I encourage the two of you to keep sparring, I think it's time the two of you save your energy for the fight ahead." He then turned his attention to Sakura. "Remember their movements and apply them to your own; they could very well save your life in the upcoming battle should you have to fight."

Naruto and Setsuka walked down from their respective trees, following Sakura, Tazuna and Kakashi into the house. "You're just in time," came the voice of Tazuna's daughter Tsunami, placing a large metal pot in the middle of the table. "I'd just finished making dinner."

The dinner was a simple affair, with a rice cooker nearby and several bowls ready. As Tsunami lifted the lid from the pot, she dipped a ladle in to pull out a spoonful of fish stew made from wild herbs and spices and dried cod. The side dish was a small bowl full of pickled vegetables still soaking in vinegar next to the empty rice bowls and chopsticks. While it was obvious throughout the week that the single mother was capable of doing more, it was still amazing considering what she had to work with given the state of affairs in the village. Still, with her level of culinary proficiency, Tsunami would have made a killing from opening own diner; as a matter of fact, she could even train to become a head chef and open her own high-class restaurant.

As they all settled down around the table, Tsunami began handing out the bowls of rice. "You all look like you've made some progress."

Tazuna let out a triumphant laugh. "We're only a quarter of the way before the bridge is finished! And once that's done, we can start to breath life back into the village!"

"Tell me about it," said Naruto, helping himself to a bit of the stew, "At the rate we're going with our training, it's only a matter of time before we're ready to take on Gato."

"Like that's gonna matter!" shouted a voice from the stairwell, the irritation that Naruto felt when he heard it staying his hand from pulling away from the pot. The speaker was Inari, Tazuna's grandson; and he had a sneer on his face for the shinobi gathered at the table. "It won't matter what you do, or how strong you get! Gato's army will kill you all and—"

"Will you just shut up already?" Naruto interrupted, still partially angry that his bowl was still empty of both rice and stew. "You're getting too damn annoying."

"Shut up!" Inari shouted back. "I bet that you all have a nice warm meal and a family waiting for you back at home! What would you foreigners know about our suffering? You're all no different from Gato, getting our hopes up and—"

Before Inari could say anything else, Naruto quickly turned and threw his bowl at him. The boy's eyes had widened with fright upon registering how close he was to death as half a pound of thin-walled ceramic shot just past his ear and shattered upon impact with the wall behind him. He then found himself looking back into a pair of clear blue eyes, smoldering with utter contempt for him; the frown on Naruto's face just dared him to say another word. Not that he had the balls to say anything after the deadly projectile that almost cracked his skull open. "Did I, or did I not tell you to 'shut up,' you disgraceful little shit?"

There was nothing for him to say. Inari was frozen in place by the power of Naruto's glare. "W-what?" He finally managed to croak out.

"You heard me; I called you a 'disgraceful little shit.'" said Naruto, standing up and taking slow and menacing steps towards Inari. "You sit here in this house, letting Gato do whatever the hell he wants while crying about how unfair the world is, hoping someone would join in your little pity-party. If that's not disgraceful, then I don't know what is." Inari was too mortified at what he was hearing to turn away. "The only people I respect in this town are your grandpa, your mom, and your dad. Why? Because unlike you and everyone else in this shithole, they've actually done, or _are_ doing something. Your grandpa is working to save this village with his bridge; you mom has to work with what she has to put food on the table; and your dad, he died fighting for what he believed in. You? You insult them by being nothing but a loser, crying about what you're going through and doing nothing at all!"

Inari had nothing to say…part of it was due to morbid curiosity, the other being ashamed to admit that he was telling the truth. The majority of it was because Naruto was standing right in front of him, hitting him with the full force of his glare. "You wanna change my opinion of you? You want the world to see you guys in a better light? Then grow a fucking pair of balls, and do something about it! Anything! Revolt! Form a mob! Send a letter to the Daimyō! I don't care, so long as at least one of you cowards gets the strength to stand up and say 'enough!' Because to be honest, I much rather die than to live like the spineless worms the rest of you are!"

Having said what he wanted to say, Naruto growled. "Thanks to you, I've lost my appetite now."

Naruto left Inari trembling in abject terror, and the rest of the house in confusion. Setsuka sighed, sat up from the table and followed him out the door with two packets of field rations."I'm going to follow him, see if I can help him blow off steam before he decides to cut down all the trees in your property." On the way, she came to a stop in front of Inari. "By the way, as much as I think he went too far with you, you _did_ ask for it. After all, you were telling two _orphans_ that they knew nothing of suffering. So before you go on inviting people to your 'pity-party', think of all the other people in the world who have it a lot worse than you do."

As she left the house, Tsunami turned her attention to Kakashi. "Is it true? Are those two really orphans?"

"It is." Kakashi deadpanned, "Setsuka lost her entire clan at a young age, while Naruto had nobody to care for him at all…you could say that Inari's suffering is minor compared to theirs. And yet, Naruto had managed to pull himself out of that self-pity to find people to care for; Setsuka being one of those people."

Inari's fear of Naruto had been replaced with both sadness, and shame of himself. He'd said something insensitive, and got a well-deserved tongue-lashing because of it.

Kakashi then turned his attention to Inari. "Those two have a point. You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, and find something to fight for…if not for yourself, then for the memory of your father."

Taking the jōnin's words into consideration, Inari began to think. His father fought for something he loved…he fought and died for the people he cared for. Now that he thought on it, his last moments, Kaiza looked strong to him. If that's what made him strong enough to not be afraid of death, then what would he have to fight for?

…

_**A/N: I wonder how many people figured out the identity of Naruto's companions. **_

…

_**Vocabulary:**_

_**kiai─a battle shout used in a lot of martial arts. Done to intimidate your opponent, as well as regulate your breathing.**_

_**harmonic balance─a harmonically-balanced sword means that the weight of the sword is positioned in a location on the blade that allows you to use it both one- and two-handed.**_

…

_**Styles used:**_

_**None yet**_

…

_**Original Jutsu:**_

_**Wai-Wai no Jutsu: pretty much an animal jutsu that only shinobi-trained animals can do. They sit up, water up their eyes, and look cute and innocent. Won't work for any animal that doesn't look cute.**_

…

_**Cameos/References **_

_**Haku's commands―lyrics for AC/DC's song "TNT"…at least the back end of the main riff.**_

_**The rabbit's name―named for Angus Young, one of the founders of AC/DC.**_

_**Kakashi's imagined machine―the 3DMG from Shingeki no Kyojin.**_


	13. Ō no Gunsei

_**A/N: Finally, it's done. And that should probably conclude the Nami no Kuni arc. Do read and review, would you kindly? And please keep it classy.**_

* * *

[Tazuna's house]

It was a very quiet morning as Tsunami went to work with lunch while Inari sat by the window deep in thought about what Kakashi had told him. Nobody else was in the house as they all had things to do while the jōnin was out of the house with Tazuna continuing his work. Setsuka and Sakura were assigned to assist in the protection detail. The only shinobi that wasn't present on guard duty was Naruto, who had been sleeping in.

After accidentally walking in on one of his kata-practice sessions with the intent to apologize, Inari found that Setsuka wasn't kidding when she said he'd cut down all the trees on their property. Naruto was out in the woods with her, perfecting his technique with a one-handed crystal tsurugi that was as good for slashing as it was for stabbing. During their sparring match, he'd counted around ten stumps from really thick and old trees, some of them with slits going through the trunks on the floor from being cored with that really sharp tip. On that note, he was glad that the swordsman had chosen to cool down outside; he honestly didn't want to be around a very angry Naruto with that sword in hand.

Now that Naruto slept in his room, he could only imagine the dreams he had. All that power, and Inari had no idea what it was for…he was only glad that it was not angrily directed at him. Harsh as his words were, he found them to be true; he needed to fight for something.

Inari's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door being kicked down. He looked in that direction, and saw two men in the doorway…both of whom he'd recognized, considering he'd seen them in town once in awhile. One of them was a bare-chested, one-eyed thug and had tattoos on his left side, while the other wore a hoodie and a beanie. They were both rōnin under Gato's employ, and were normally seen with Gato around.

What were they doing here?

"Well look what we've got here, Zori!" guffawed the shirtless thug. "Gato never did say that the target was hot!"

"Neither did he say anything about having fun with her on the way here, Waraji." answered the beanie-wearing rōnin. "All he said was that he wanted the bitch to leverage against the bridge-builder."

So that's it. Gato wanted to use his mom to tell his grandpa to back off. And as he processed more on what they just said, it looked like they were going to hurt her. As the two rōnin began taking steps towards his mother, he began to reach around for something…anything at hand to help him stop these two sickos from getting any closer to his mom. He soon found something round and long. Waraji and Zori had both passed him by when he finally charged. Inari ran at the both of them with a broom as an improvised weapon, screaming in hopes that they would divert their attention away from his mom.

Swinging the broom down upon Waraji's head, Inari soon found that he was holding a thin dowel before he was kicked into the couch. "Well lookee here, Zori! We have ourselves a little shrimp that thinks he's a man!"

Zori chuckled, drawing his blade and aiming the tip at Inari's throat. "Why don't we have some fun with…"

"Don't you dare hurt him!" shouted Tsunami, glaring fiercely at the two rōnin just . "If you do, I'll bite my own tongue off!"

Waraji scoffed at Tsunami's threat. "Heh, you've got a lot of nerve. But we're not mean; we'll let the brat live if you come with us. Sound like a deal?"

Tsunami didn't say a word…she simply nodded, but her reluctance was made all the more clear with the disgusted look in her eyes. As they began to manhandle her, she made every effort to pull away. "Get your filthy hands off of me!"

As he watched the two men take his mother away, Inari could not help but cry to himself. First his father, and now his mother. It was at this point that he began to feel at his lowest. _Isn't there anyone that can help her?!_ he asked himself.

All thoughts of helplessness were interrupted as soon as a wet *squelch* was heard, followed by Zori screaming in pain. Inari sat up a bit to see that Naruto wielded a long spear that impaled the beanie-wearing thug's right shoulder and a small sword in his off-hand. Zori's scream of pain was cut short as Naruto drew his sword and hacked off the rōnin's head in one swing.

"You bastard!" shouted Waraji. Naruto turned to see his arm around a struggling Tsunami's neck, with the other holding a hidden survival knife to her throat. "Put down your fucking weapons, or the bitch gets it! I mean it!"

There was a bit of hesitation before Naruto complied. He let go of the spear and dropped the sword. Waraji's next demand was cut short when he heard a breeze from behind him, followed by a storm of pinpricks that assaulted his back. He struggled to move, only to find that he had been paralyzed from the neck down. "What the hell-?!"

The sound of footsteps circled around him until the owner was revealed to be a buxom woman a baggy, hooded overcoat that traced contours of her form beneath. Her face was hidden behind a lion mask, but he could make out strong and shapely legs at the bottom. All in all, he would have taken this woman on the spot were it not for the situation at hand.

"Perfect timing." said Naruto, picking his sword back up.

"M-my pleasure, your majesty." says Lion.

"When I get out of this, I'm going to fucking kill you!" shouted Waraji, struggling to free himself for paralysis. "That's right, I'm going to kill you and your lion-bitch!"

"I really wouldn't bother," answered Lion with a deadpan, not even bothering to look him in the eyes. "You are already dead."

For a moment, Waraji's face expressed confusion before it contorted into a grimace of pain as he began to writhe in place. "Hi…" he hissed, his body flailing around helplessly. "De…" His entire torso had begun to inflate as he continued moaning. "Bu-!" Waraji's top half had exploded in a bright light, blood and grey matter splattering in all directions…no doubt because his tenketsu points in those areas were hit in such a manner as to detonate them all.

After watching as his colleague had Naruto kicked Zori's dead body off his spear, and turned to face an astonished Inari as Lion stepped back into the shadows. "You stood up for once. Your dad would be proud…just keep it up."

"Where are you going now?" asked Inari.

"To the bridge. I've got a fight I need to take part in." As he spoke, Naruto placed the sword on the shaft of the spear, shaping the weapon into a massive, crystal-bladed greatsword he now held in his shoulder.

"You do know that Gato's got an army, right?"

There was a smirk on Naruto's face. "He's got nothing on mine."

As Naruto ran towards the bridge, Inari could only wonder as to what he meant by that. But he would be damned if he let Naruto go there alone.

* * *

[Somewhere in the shadows]

A massive shadow sat and waited in the forests near Tazuna's House, watching as Uzumaki Naruto left the premises. There had been nothing to do for a while now…save for the constant surveillance. It had been on the island for a few weeks now, and it was watching everything that had been going on in the land of Nami no Kuni. Nothing changed, save for the appearance of Hatake Kakashi and his new genin team being hired by the bridge-builder Tazuna.

During the past few days, the shadow had noticed something different in the form of Kakashi's genin Uzumaki Naruto. For some reason, the boy was able to make use of a power that had not been seen in the world for millennia. Could it be that…? No, the idea seemed to be highly implausible. Then again, it _did_ make sense when one considered that the Hero-King used his indomitable willpower to transport his crystallized body and the Soul swords into hiding. And whenever Princess Kaguya found him, he would shield his body and the Soul swords from her before relocating his hiding place.

It just so happened that the shadow's other mission was to seek out the Hero-King's resting place, and to erase all traces of his existence before the fool chose his successor. In all honesty, it understood the reasoning; Algol was a very formidable opponent while alive, more than capable of taking on armies (if not entire countries) alone. His power was such that he was the only person that could fight on even terms with Ōtsusuki Kaguya and live to tell the tale. Were he still around, there was no doubt he could conquer the Shinobi Nations and unite everyone under his banner as he'd done long ago.

Now that he had finally chosen a successor, Akatsuki could very well have a rival in the making. It would seem that a wrench had been thrown into the plans, and now there was a slight possibility that the outcome could change. The shadow simply vanished into the ground. It had to witness this battle that Uzumaki was going to take part in for itself. Win or lose, there was going to be quite a tale to tell…and with any luck, the rise of the Hero-King's successor would end here and now.

* * *

[The Bridge, later on]

The situation was getting dire. Granted, Zabuza no longer had the rabbit with him, which made the battle a bit easier. Who would've thought that a simple explosive tag that he stuck to its leg was all it was needed to kill that rabbit? But now he had the Hunter-Nin that facilitated his flight. Still, fighting in the mist was not doing favors for Kakashi, as he waited around in the bridge waiting for Zabuza to make a move.

At the same time, he noted that Setsuka was having a hard time with her own opponent. She was trapped in a dome of ice mirrors that allowed the Hunter-Nin the ability to move rather fast. He had no idea what was going on in there, but he could tell that she wasn't doing well. And after such a good head start against the fraud earlier too.

The only one not engaged in combat was Sakura, and that's because she was assigned to guard the client. In all honesty, she wouldn't have been able to handle combat against those two power-houses, although he did note that she was getting better. Perhaps it was a wise idea to wake Naruto after all.

"My apprentice is very powerful indeed," taunted Zabuza, his voice carrying through the mist. "I daresay she's jōnin-level. Can your girl keep up with her?"

"I have more than enough faith in her ability to keep up." said Kakashi, his eyes darting quickly through the fog. He had no idea where Zabuza was as of yet, but he had an idea as to how to get him. It would require a good amount of planning and…

"HERE I COME!"

Whatever thoughts he had on mind were interrupted when he heard that shout, followed by footsteps running into the battle. Kakashi watched as Naruto darted by, a large sword hefted against his shoulder as he leaped into the air. He planted both feet against the surface of one of the ice mirrors, and shattered it with a dropkick. As he got back up, he began to form the crystal armor on his body, while getting a good grip of his greatsword. He noted that Setsuka was heavily damaged and tired by the time he got there. "Where is she?"

"She's in the mirrors." answered Setsuka, her eyes darting back and forth as she stood back-to-back with Naruto. Her iai blade was drawn and ready to hack apart the enemy if she saw her.

"You both seem very skilled." said the fake Hunter-nin from all of the mirrors, "I really hope I don't have to kill either of you."

Naruto looked around, hoping he could get a better idea of where she was. "You could just walk away."

"Sadly, as much as I'd like to take up your suggestion, I am duty-bound to Zabuza-sama." the fake Hunter-nin said, clutching a number of ice-senbon in between her fingers in the mirror. "Which means you both have to die."

The false Hunter-Nin resumed her work, bouncing from mirror to mirror while sending a storm of senbon their way. Naruto's skill with a greatsword had to take into account that his strength was not to the point where he could swing it around effectively in one hand (though he could do that); this meant that his swings were not very fast. Some senbon managed to get past his blade barrier and into the plates of his armor. Meanwhile, Setsuka's speed made short work of a lot of senbon coming her way with a quick draw of her iai blade.

However, their attacks were far from uncoordinated; Naruto and Setsuka's movements complimented each other as they protected each other. The mass of Naruto's greatsword cut swathes through the storm of needles heading their way, giving Setsuka some breathing room as she attempted to cut the fake Hunter-Nin. As the fight became more heated, Setsuka seemed to be getting closer and closer to landing a nick on the lightning-fast blurs.

The defense had come to a grinding halt when Naruto recoiled and found himself on one knee. He then noted that there was a large ice spike in the gap of armor where his knee guard met his thigh armor. It was then followed by several more spikes in his shoulder, his foot, and on the back of his free hand. "Your armor is indeed impressive." answered the fake Hunter-nin, pausing in her volley of needles, "While my senbon could not penetrate the plates protecting your center mass, you still had very necessary weakspots I could exploit."

"You really think you can keep this up?" challenged Naruto, breaking the spike in his free hand with a closed fist. His eyes darted from mirror to mirror, trying to predict her next trajectory as he pulled another spike out of his knee with his free hand. "By the looks of things, all that's keeping you alive is your speed. You're not terribly strong, but the number of needles you put out is impressive. Factor in your knowledge of anatomy, and you are plenty deadly. However, you are pretty sloppy right now."

"That knowledge will not help you now!"

The fake Hunter-nin leaped out of the mirror in a black blur, attempting to fire more large spikes into the chinks of Naruto's armor. She wound up having to change trajectory as she watched Setsuka roll around with her iai blade in an underhanded grip moving upwards in an attempt to disembowel her. Just as she managed to avoid the strike, she was pulled back by her ankle with a very strong grip, spun around a rotating shoulder in such a way that she was dragged along the ground, and then finally thrown to the floor. Fortunately, she was able to use her chakra to soften her impact to the ground, but just enough to avoid allowing gravity to smash her bones to pieces. Unfortunately, it was still so painful that she lost her concentration, dispelling the ice-mirrors she created.

"You're gonna pay for that!" shouted Naruto, leaping into the air. The imposter was able to recover just in time to roll backwards upon seeing the massive blade of Naruto's greatsword crashing down upon her, and then hop backwards just in time for the blade to come back up. The tip of the blade was moving too quickly, catching her kimono in one swing, and nicking the bottom of her mask.

Naruto was far from done as he grabbed her by the neck, and stunning his opponent with a headbutt. He then punched her in the face with his sword-hand with enough force to crack the mask. As he released her, he finally shattered it with one more punch that sent her to the ground.

As she started getting back up, the fake Hunter-nin faced Naruto with a dead look in her eyes. "Impressive, I never thought you were truly this powerful."

"And I never thought you'd be working for Zabuza, Haku." answered Naruto, slowly pulling the spikes out of his body. One could hear the fury coming from his words, as well as the daggers he glared at her. "I mean, seriously; is he really the guy you wanted to protect so badly?"

"You know her?" asked Setsuka, looking at Naruto questioningly.

"I ran into her a little before we finished the tree-walking exercise." explained Naruto. "She was looking for medicines to heal her friend. I had no idea that her friend was Zabuza." There was no answer from Haku. "I don't understand it. Why would you want to work for that eyebrow-less pussy so much?"

"Because I am his tool." Haku deadpanned. "He found me as a child during the bloodline purge, and raised me himself. If it weren't for Zabuza-sama, I would've ended it long ago. But now that you've defeated me, he will have no use for a broken tool. You'd be doing me a great service if you kill me now."

Naruto looked on at Haku's eyes. At this point, all the spikes had been removed. "There's no way I can convince you to back down now is there?"

Haku's silence was very telling of her certainty about her decision. Naruto sighed in exasperation as he shouldered his greatsword. "I'll make sure you get a good place in my army!" he said, bringing the blade down on her. He'd expected to have her killed, and her soul absorbed, only to see that he cut nothing. In the moment she used to dodge, Haku reinforced her fist in a sheath of ice to punch the tip of the sword deeper into the ground before driving two ice spikes into Naruto's knees at high speed. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I just can't die yet!"

Within the span of a few seconds, Haku vanished in a 'whoosh' before a wet 'squelch' was heard. Naruto and Setsuka turned to see that Kakashi had impaled the girl upon his arm, his hand barely reaching Zabuza as he was weighed down by large dogs with Konoha hitai-ate on their bodies. The Nuke-nin laughed maniacally as he managed to free himself from his dogs to bring his zanbatō around one-handed, planning to bisect Haku and Kakashi in one swing. Kakashi had hopped back just in time to avoid being cut in half, with Haku's body cradled in his arms.

"I always knew she'd be of use one day," he said, the dogs dispelling from the arena. "I just didn't think she'd be this useful!"

"You disgust me." said Kakashi, his hands moving to cover Haku's modesty. Once he was certain that her body would not be mutilated any further, he turned to face Zabuza, fury clear in his eyes. Naruto watched as he continued his duel, baiting Zabuza into missing strikes, and countering by landing heavy hits to both of the man's shoulders. "Momochi Zabuza, I've dislocated both of your shoulders; you are now unable to use kata, much less a single jutsu. You've had your fun when you tried to assassinate the Mizukage, now it's time to end you!"

The sound of sinister laughter could be heard, breaking the silence. "Looks like you shinobi did all the work for me!" came a voice from the mist.

Zabuza turned, his pained expression was now combined with a look of utter fury as he cleared away the mist. At the forefront was a bald, mustachioed man in a business suit and sunglasses with his arm in a cast, and a cane held in his hands. Behind him stood a wall of men, all of whom were brandishing a variety of weapons. "Gato! What the fuck are you doing here?! And why'd you bring all of them?!"

"It is what it looks like, Zabuza," taunted Gato, "Y'see, you shinobi cost a lot of money to hire out. And when I refuse to pay, you sons of bitches complain. That's where hiring out mercenaries works out; they're cheap, they don't complain and they are more than powerful enough to kill you shinobi when in large enough numbers!"

"Looks like there's no longer any need for us to be fighting." snarled Zabuza.

"Agreed." Kakashi bit out.

Gato took a few hobbled steps towards Haku's corpse. A sinister sneer on his face as he prodded her face with his cane. "Such a waste now that I think on it. You probably would've made for a high-class whore if you weren't so stupid!" He then turned his attention to the rest of his mercenaries. "The rest of those dumbass shinobi are yours to kill! I'll double your fee if you kill the bridge-builder!"

The mercenaries cheered, taking running steps towards them until something arced out of the mist, and shot past Gato's right leg. Closer inspection revealed that it was a small, heavy arrow, lodged in the ground. "You're not going to cross if we have a say in it!" called out a voice from behind. As the mist cleared, it was revealed there was a wall of people standing there. There was a large crowd, all of whom were villagers that were sick of Gato's treatment over the years. All were armed with a variety of weapons that included machetes, pitchforks, shovels and even the odd torch here and there. At the forefront of the angry mob was Inari with a crossbow in his hands.

Naruto could only tip his hat off to the people that showed up. They had balls. But the fact of the matter was that they were still outnumbered. Perhaps now was the time to reveal his trump card. He then had a look at the army of thugs Gato had with him, and laughed. "You call that an army? Ha! Not even close! All you've got is a bunch of cheap thugs!" he declared, winds kicking up around him and everyone in the area. It was as though a hurricane had decided to form. "If you think that gang of lowlifes is going to save you, Gato, then I guess I have to show you fools right now just what a _real_ army is like."

Everybody that heard what he'd just said were wondering what Naruto was talking about. But before anyone could ask a question, Naruto's armored body began to glow a bright purple light as the winds began to pick up even faster. Soon, the light engulfed everyone…

* * *

[Unknown Location]

It was strangely quiet now, and the winds had died down. Setsuka lowered her arm, scanning the area curiously. Much to her surprise, they were not at the bridge; what she saw instead was a sea of grass as far as the eye could see. The appearance of a midday sky, as well as rocky cliffs made it clear that she was no longer in Nami no Kuni. Behind her, she could see the peasant militia and her own team looking around in confusion. Across from her position was Gato and his mercenaries, just as confused as everyone else. "Where are we?" she asked, voicing the very thought on everybody's heads. She then turned to see Naruto's back, finding the strength to ask him directly. "What is this place?"

{"Army of the King" by Yuki Kajiura from "Fate/Zero"}

"These lands were made in the Hero-King's image upon his conquest of the Soul swords." answered Naruto, his attention on an equally-confused Gato and his army of thugs. "It's a place of Light and Darkness, he'd never forget."

Setsuka was wondering exactly what he was talking about, but heard a sound in the distance. She saw something coming…she could not make out its shape, but she could tell that it was innumerable. "I can make this world as real as can ever be, because it now exists within my soul!"

At this point, the sound became clear: it was the sound of marching feet, tromping slowly up the hilltop. The shapes that everyone saw began to take form: men and women of all ages, all armed and armored in a variety of ways. The design of each and every soldier in this army was unique, betraying cultures foreign to everyone on in the plains. Within the large gathering of warriors was a forest of massive spears that flew red flags. Were it not for for their unity and purpose in their step, they would have been mistaken for a mass of amateurs. "Behold, the Hero-King's Army! Their bodies have turned to ash, their king has died and their souls sealed into the Soul Swords! And now, these legendary warriors pledge their loyalty to his successor! My bond with them is my ultimate treasure; my ultimate path to kingship! The ultimate army that I possess! The Soulstorm!"

The sound of warriors cheering for their king could be heard in the air. It had the effect of inspiring both fear and strength into the citizens of Nami no Kuni and Gato's thugs in equal measure. Even the stoic Kakashi and bloodthirsty Zabuza could not help but be amazed at the sheer number of warriors that seemed to cover the landscape. "Who exactly are these people?" Setsuka asked under her breath.

A tall woman in armor strode past the crowd, and stopped near Naruto. She was accompanied by a group of eleven masked people in hooded overcoats. The woman in the lead carried a large, round shield and a spear in her hands; holstered at her side was a short sword. Her helmet had a crest of stiff bristles that went to the top, and was worn like a metal cap. "Your majesty, the troops are ready."

"No need to call me that yet, Alecto," said Naruto, regarding the warrior–woman before turning his attention to two masked women in the hooded overcoats. "Who has watch duty over Danzo?"

"Fudo, Naruto-sama." answered the one in the lion mask. "She will make sure that Shimura knows his place."

"Good."

The two of them seemed to have command over the others judging by their stance, and the lion-masked woman's voice sounded eerily familiar. However, what caught Setsuka's eye was the dragon-masked woman; or rather, her weapon. She widened her eyes in shock as she realized that she was wielding her sword. It seemed a little older with a few dents and scratches upon its mounting, but there was no mistaking that the blade that Dragon-Lady was wearing at her side was none other than Shiranui Tsukihime. The only thought that crossed Setsuka's mind was: _Who the hell is this woman?!_

Her musings were interrupted as soon as Naruto turned to address the army before him. "Warriors! The enemy we face are criminal scum deserving of neither mercy nor pity! They have undoubtedly committed numerous crimes in their pathetic lives, but there is one offense that is unforgivable: believing themselves to be warriors. Let us show them and their arrogant leader what being a true warrior means!"

The response he got was a whooping battle cry from the army. Just the fact that this army was on their side alone was a morale boost, not to mention the utter terror inflicted upon Gato and his gang of thugs. "Are you a betting man, Gato?" Naruto challenged, turning his sight "As you can see here, what I've summoned is a plain. With our numbers, we hold the advantage."

Naruto raised his hand, and allowed it to drop. The the next words he uttered was a definite command: "BRING ME THEIR PATHETIC SOULS!"

The warriors of the Soulstorm let out a rallying battle cry as they charged, with Naruto at the forefront and a greatsword in his hands. Their movements were fast, but careful enough to run around the civilians and the shinobi in the area. As they crossed the gap between them, Gato trembled. "Don't just stand there, get them!" he commanded, the quiver in his voice betraying his fear. "This is not real! It's probably some shinobi trick!"

His words came too late. Gato's thugs broke away, running as fast as their legs could take them. Words he heard included, "Screw this! I'm outta here!", "This ain't worth a fat paycheck!" and even "I don't wanna die!" Their escape was cut short as a volley of arrows rained upon their heads, penetrating flesh, leather and cloth and stopping half of the men in their tracks. That was followed through by a storm of javelins impaling many of them, slowing their escape as the Soulstorm caught up to cut down the survivors.

[Play: "Jungle" by X-Ambassadors]

While everyone in the Soulstorm managed to score respectable numbers of kills, cutting down and impaling those that had the guts to fight back. However, the ones who managed to rack up the most spectacularly-executed kills were implemented by the masked warriors in hooded overcoats. It began with the one who ran ahead of the rest of some fleeing mercenaries and using raw physical power to punch the ground, creating a solid wall of dense earth to deny them escape.

One in a beshimi mask pulled out a pair of one-piece trench knives, using shadows to first pin down victims before slitting their throats. She occasionally worked seamlessly with another masked fighter in pinning down more targets before allowing a third comrade to crush them underfoot.

Another group were mowed down by another pair riding huge dogs in coordinated attacks. They supported their steeds, throwing kunai at targets from their backs as their canine companions bit the heads off of everyone that got too close.

Dragon-Lady worked together with Lion, and a weapons master in a dance of death. Dragon-Lady did most of the dancing with Lion, occasionally catching and using weapons thrown by the weapons master. The two of them attacked and countered with a flurry of weapon strikes, Katon Justus, and what looked like a variety of finger-pokes. This did not mean that the weapons master did not come back down to the ground from time to time, as she joined in on the melee before taking back to the sky and raining more death upon the mercenaries.

Meanwhile, the masked woman that cut off the mercenaries' escape danced to her own tune with a pure taijutsu team. The three of them ducked dodged, and countered. One of them struck hard and fast, the woman pulped some of them with hard-hitting taijutsu, and the other struck with needles of chakra, sending more targets for the other two to finish off.

In the end, only Gato was left. He trembled upon realizing this fact, and saw that he was left alone with the brat that had brought about his total defeat and humiliation. Just the fact that one boy had this much power over so many powerful warriors had broken him to the core. There was no other choice for him but to kneel and beg for his life. "I give up," he croaked, still shell-shocked by his defeat, "I yield. I beg of you…mercy! I regret everything I've done up until now! Please, I want to have a chance to show you how sorry I am."

Naruto simply stared at Gato for a good minute before he gave a nod to someone behind him. Before Gato could scream like a pig, his head was cleaved off his neck before getting kicked from his shoulders. "Apology accepted, Gato."

Cheers of victory could be heard from all around from all the soldiers as the world around them vanished. The world of the Hero-King had faded away, revealing that everybody was now back at the bridge. The mist was still heavy in the area, but it still revealed that Gato and his army of thugs had finally been cut down. After a few seconds of standing still, Naruto finally collapsed onto one knee. "Damn, doing this really takes a lot of chakra from the Soul swords." he said, before standing back up to face Zabuza. The contours of his face had revealed how mind-blown he was at what he'd just seen. "Now for you. What I want to know, Zabuza is what Haku really means to you."

Zabuza glared at Naruto. "The hell are you talking about, brat?"

Unwilling to back down, Naruto glared back. "You heard me. What is Haku to you? You didn't think I wouldn't notice, how horrified you were when Kakashi-sensei killed her? Tell me just what Haku was to you. And no bullshit about tools, because we both know it's a full-fucking lie."

He was caught, and Zabuza knew it. Sighing in resignation, his gaze had softened a bit. "She's like a daughter to me. She's all I've got in this world that's good. In the end, I wanted to fight so that I could give her a future."

Naruto grinned, satisfied with the response he got. "What if I tell you I could bring her back to life?"

"I'd say you should be put in the crazy house."

"He'd already done it to the Oni Kyōdai," answered Kakashi, "I wouldn't be surprised if he could do it for Haku as well."

"However, therein lies a problem: I'm so low on chakra right now that I have to resort to using the souls I have stored up to bring her back." Naruto added. "I would've killed her and had her join my army, but Kakashi-sensei beat me to it. Because the only way I can collect souls is by killing someone myself, or by having the warriors you saw kill them for me. Judging by how strong she is, it's going to cost me more than one soul…which is where you come in. If I kill you and have you take her place in my army, that should compensate for the souls I will pay for bringing her back to life."

Zabuza seemed to consider the implications of what was said to him. On the one hand, he would die, but Haku would live. If he lived, then he would have to face justice for his crimes. Besides, if the army he saw were any indication, he would be having a hell of a time serving with them. "I'll do it, but I have conditions."

Naruto did not seem concerned in the slightest. "Name them."

"First, I want you to summon me from time to time to speak with Haku. Second, I heard you were going to be some kind of king. If that's the case, then I want to have the chance to kill you and take the throne whenever I so please."

"There's no problem with the first condition, it's the second you may have trouble with," answered Naruto, "See, you're not the only one who wants my inheritance. You will have competition from somebody much worse than you. It's something I will have to deal with one day. But all in all…"

Naruto formed a spike under his wrists below his palms and began to jab them in several killzones on his body repeatedly. When Zabuza had clearly died standing up, Naruto finally un-summoned his spikes before pushing him down. "…it's a deal."

After closing his eyes shut, Naruto turned his attention to Haku's dead body. He glowed a whitish-blue light as he grabbed her by the head. With a grunt, he transferred the light into her corpse, her wounds healing before everyone's eyes before she started breathing. Her pulse was weak, but she was clearly alive.

Naruto began to take heavy breaths. Resurrections always took a lot of effort to perform. "Can you bring anyone back to life?" that question came from Inari, with a hopeful look on his face.

"It depends. But most definitely possible if they've been killed, and if they want to come back to life." answered Naruto. "But if you are sure you want that done, I'm going to need a sword and a bonfire…"

* * *

_**A/N: I wonder how many people figured out the identity of Naruto's companions before now. I also wonder as to who he will bring back**_…

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_**Vocabulary:**_

_**(None for now)**_

…

_**Styles used:**_

_**Spear and Sword―Hilde**_

_**Greatsword—Siegfried, with one of Astaroth's throws**_

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_**Original Jutsu:**_

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_**Cameos/References **_

_**Waraji's fate―Lion pretty much pulled a trick classic to "Hokuto no Ken" ("Fist of the North Star" in English). Kenshiro, the hero of the series, uses his martial art "Hokuto no Shin Ken" to hit the victim's acupressure points, overs-timulating them and causing the poor sods to explode seconds after delivering the line "Omae wa, mō shindeiru" (literally: "You are already dead"). Sometimes said poor sod moans the word "Hidebu-!" when they die, which is a corruption for the words "ittedesu!" pretty much meaning "ouch!"**_

_**Attack of the Soulstorm―Iskandar's Ionioi Hetairoi.**_

_**Sword and Bonfire for Resurrection―Demon Souls, then Dark Souls**_


	14. Before Chakra: Agreement

_**A/N: A bit late for a Christmas present, but this is to keep the flow going as far as Kaguya and Algol's story goes. But in any case, do read and review, would you kindly? And please keep it classy.**_

…

[Border between Wa and Chūgoku, before chakra]

"How do we know you speak the truth?" asked Nobunaga. He was still not convinced of the threat that Kaguya had warned them about. "What evidence do you have for us that this threat is indeed as great as you would have us believe?"

"We have proof." said Kaguya, earning a raised eyebrow from Algol. "It was not easy, but we have evidence of the existence of these soul-eating monsters." She turned to her clansmen, asking them to drag four wagons covered in large tarps off from the side. The ones standing atop the wagons pulled off the tarps, causing those in the area to gasp in shock.

Algol stepped forward, standing before the cages to have a closer look at the threat facing the world. It was likely no mean feat that the Chūgoku soldiers had managed to find these specimens, and captured them alive, if such a thing could be applied to the abominations he saw. These men and women he observed trying to reach out for him were truly undead, and in different stages of decay, the bare-chested ones revealing a tangle of veins outside their hearts. Many of them wore the trappings of Chūgoku soldiers and officers, some of whom were probably among those who attempted to capture these monsters. The trouble was that he also saw a disproportionately large number of civilians in the mix; but what truly stoked his ire was that he also spotted the elderly and children in the swarm of undead. This only served to strengthen the distaste that filled his mouth when he thought of the ten-tailed monster.

It was truly disturbing, as these were not your typical undead. These soulless abominations were merely empty shells of human beings. There was nothing in them; no malice, nor remorse, not even a hint of bloodlust. Just an uncontrollable and insatiable hunger for souls that turned them into merciless animals. It fueled his rage at the source of this aberration.

Granted, Algol himself was undead as well; the difference was that where these poor souls were made this way simply by the will of the ten-tailed monster, _he_ retained his soul. _He _ruled over the Soul swords now, and regained what was left of his humanity with his own willpower. And with the power and experience _he _had gained while conquering the dimension of Astral Chaos, he was able to conquer a vast frontier that became an empire in all but name.

His own elite warriors were undead as well, but they all retained their own souls. Each soldier had their own memories, their own preferences; they could even love. He would know this, because he still had these feelings as well. As he thought on it now, Algol could not help but pity the victims of the monster…

"Now you understand the severity of the threat we face." said Kaguya, taking a position next to Algol. "These monsters devour the souls of the living, and add their victims to their number. They do not know fear; only a never-ending hunger for our souls."

Algol said nothing as he looked at the victims of the ten-tailed monster. "Everyone stand back," he finally said, garnering looks of fear from everyone around him. "I wish to put these poor souls out of their misery."

Alecto stepped up to her king with a concerned expression on her hardened features. "Sire," she whispered, "I must protest. Surely someone else can put these…things down."

"Look at them, Alecto. See how they focus their attention upon me."

As commanded by her king, Alecto had a closer look at the undead. Their arms and their focus were turned towards Algol. But why? There were plenty of souls around for them to devour. She could sacrifice herself happily for his sake, and they would very likely ignore her and focus their attention upon him. The only reason she could think of that they would want to crowd his majesty so would be…

"Have the others get to higher ground, it is obvious that they want me. There's nothing inside them; all there is within these 'Hollows' is an instinctual urge to consume the souls of those they kill. If that's the case, then mine would be like a feast to them."

A look at his expression of pity had told the princess everything she needed to know. Kaguya turned her attention to the entire delegation. "I would advise everybody to do as he says. We've seen enough of these creatures." She then regarded her own clansmen manning the cages. "Do not open the cages until I give the word."

At her command, everyone left for higher ground. It was high enough that they had a good view of what was to happen without getting involved in the fight. Add the steepness of the cliff to that, and it was an easily defensible location. Both Wa and Chūgoku had a retinue of archers should things go south.

Kaguya took up her position with the others. Her own experience with the Hollows had shown that they were all pushovers relying on animal instinct and ferocity. Some of them retained enough brainpower to use the weapons, and those with strong enough souls could use skills they had gained in life. As capable as she was in a fight (having slain a number of Hollows herself before today) this was an opportunity to see Algol when he chose to fight seriously and with her own eyes. After the ten-tailed monster was dealt with, she may regretfully have to be the one to finally kill him. It also led to the despicable fact that should he fail to put these Hollows to rest, then she would be one step closer towards uniting the world under her rule.

Seeing that he was ready for whatever came his way, Kaguya turned to the clansmen manning the cages. "Release them!"

{Play: "A Field of Battle (Bitter#2)" by Yuki Kajiura, from "Xeonsaga II"}

Pins were pulled upward, the cage doors soon fell to the ground as the flood of undead began surging towards Algol. There was no fear in his stance; just a confidence borne from years of experience. He began the fight with a single kick, a blade shooting out from his foot under his toes and spearing a number of Hollows in a straight line before a single spin cut through many of them in a single bound. In that single spin, he created both of his weapons; the blue crystal formed a shield, with which he parried a number of blows and countering with shield-slams. The red crystal was like a deadly punch-dagger. Both weapons were used to full effect, blocking, parrying, riposting, as he smashed a number of Hollow skulls into oblivion.

To be fair, she'd seen Algol in action several times, when he was fighting human opponents. Those times were when he was far away on the battlefield, and even then it was clear to her that he was cleaving through enemy ranks. But the way Kaguya saw him moving through the horde of undead that had been loosed upon him, it served to reinforce the image in her mind of an eagle on the hunt. Every swing of his arms, a flap of the wings; every kick a strike with talons. And as the fight went on, she began to see the other weapons he kept stored in his body: forearm blades that extended the reach of his punches; metallic wings that shot from his back, impaling enemies that dared to sneak up behind him; cages that formed around his arms and fired purple spheres of energy that disintegrated any Hollow upon contact; bones that extruded from his rib cage that speared a number of Hollows in front of him, while also serving as contacts for an even larger purple sphere.

Every move she watched him perform burned itself into her eyes. Every counter, every riposte, every parry and even the moments in which he teleported his throne in and out of the battlefield was added to her memory. She would learn and copy what she saw today, and apply it to her own style. While she found her talents in combat better-suited as a tactician and an archer than a fencer, Kaguya saw no reason not to learn techniques for emergencies that put her in close-quarters combat.

When the battle against the Hollows had ended, all that was left of the undead monsters were corpses that had been put out of their misery. Algol stood atop the field of the dead, both triumphant and solemn in his victory. He gave Kaguya and everyone else that saw the aftermath of the battle the impression of a conquering barbarian king that reveled in crushing his enemies, seeing them driven before him, and hearing the lamentation of their women. However, whatever savagery he seemed capable of inflicting upon his enemies was tempered with the pity in his eyes for the Hollows he put down.

As everyone neared the kill zone, they watched as glowing blue wisps began to rise into the air like embers from a freshly-started fire. Nobody knew what it was that they were seeing, but it was clear that the wisps floated towards Algol. He never said a word, only taking the lights into his body. "Fear not," he finally said, "you shall all be avenged."

Kaguya looked at Algol with a questioning expression on her face. Who was he talking to?

"Your civilians are welcome past the wall." he began, silencing his generals and Alecto with a raised arm before they could protest. Once he was certain that he would not be interrupted, he turned to regard Kaguya with a searching gaze. "We shall accept your refugees into our lands. However, if you wish to have our full support in your war against these abominations, we require a gesture to prove that you shall not betray us…at least until this threat is dealt with."

Kaguya wished she could avert her attention, find something else to legitimately look at. Anytime Algol looked at her with that powerful, searching gaze that made her feel naked, it reminded her of how inferior she was to him as a king. It also did things to her that she did not want to think about. But still, she steeled her gaze; unwilling to back down. "What gesture would you ask of us?"

"Normally, as it is we who are offering you our support, we would right to determine the demand of you," began Algol, "However, as it is clear that Chūgoku is losing in any collateral we could possibly ask of you, we will take whatever gesture you can offer up; so long as you are sincere in your word that the ceasefire shall last until the ten-tailed monster is dead."

There was one thing on her mind that she could offer…whether or not this deal will go through will hinge on what she was willing to sacrifice. She knew the reaction she would get, but Kaguya needed that support badly. "Then in addition to the fiefs near your borders, I shall offer you my sister's hand in marriage."

Tsukina, who had been standing next to Kaguya looked at her sister with a scandalized look on her face. She just knew that she would be having words with her soon enough. The look in Algol's and Alecto's face had told her that even _they_ did not see that coming. "This is the only thing I can possibly offer you at the moment."

The tension could be felt as everyone looked to Algol for his response. His features had settled on an expression that seemed to be ruminating upon his options. With a sigh, he looked to Kaguya with a somewhat disappointed look on his face; whether it was for her, she had yet to discern. "I will accept your offer. Your civilians will be safe in my borders until this conflict is over; until then, I shall pledge my troops to your cause." He then turns his attention to his entourage. "Let's go."

A portal was opened, allowing Algol and his entourage to walk through it.

Once it was done, everyone left…except for Kaguya and Tsukina. When it was clear that they were alone, the younger Ōtsusuki sister turned to Kaguya. "You shouldn't have done that."

"It was the only thing I could offer him." Kaguya said, not even bothering to face her sister.

"No, that I could understand." snapped Tsukina, "I can see the necessity of earning his trust. If it comes to that, I'm even willing to learn to love him if that's what it takes to one day have peace between our nations. What I want to know, is why you're marrying me off to a man that we _both_ know you are truly in love with?"

…

_**A/N: And we're done. Do please review, and keep it classy, would you kindly? And a Happy New Year!**_

_**…**_

_**References**_

_**Impression of the barbarian king-Pretty much what Conan the barbarian describes as what's best in life: to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.**_


End file.
